Source: appliance house
Scientists at Harvard University and the Massachusetts institute of technology are teaming up to develop a "black tech" product -- a smart mask that can quickly sense viruses.You can tell if you have covid-19 by wearing it and taking a breath, even if you don't have symptoms!
The invention came from a team of scientists at Harvard University and the Massachusetts institute of technology.The team of scientists was created by James j. Collins, an expert in synthetic biology and a professor at the Massachusetts institute of technology.Collins is considered a pioneer in synthetic biology and was awarded a MacArthur fellowship in 2003.
His research team has been working on epidemic response measures since 2014, and in 2016 released a sensor that could quickly detect the ebola virus and apply it to the zika outbreak.
In 2018, the team's sensors can detect a variety of viruses, including SARS, measles, influenza, hepatitis c and west Nile.It also received a $50,000 grant from Johnson & Johnson to develop sensors that can be embedded to detect viruses.
Now they are using the novel coronavirus identification technique again.
The rationale for the smart mask sounds simple enough: a novel coronavirus gene sequence can be identified by attaching a specific sensor to the mask.In this way, if a novel coronavirus is identified when a person is breathing, coughing or sneezing while wearing a mask, the mask will emit a fluorescent signal within a few hours.
The mask's sensors, made of DNA and RNA, two genetic materials that bind to viruses, are freeze-dried onto the mask by a machine called a cold dryer, which is stable at room temperature for several months.Its fluorescent signal will be activated by two things: water from mucus or saliva, and a gene sequence from novel coronavirus.
The fluorescent signal will be invisible to the naked eye.But you can scan a mask with a $1 handheld fluorescent suit.
The development will potentially address the misdiagnosis and delays associated with other virus detection methods, allowing countries to better control outbreaks.
At present, novel coronavirus tests have to wait 24 hours for test results, and some patients even have to wait several days for a report.
It only takes one to three hours for the mask to sense the virus and emit a fluorescent signal. Doctors can quickly know if a patient is infected with the new coronavirus without taking time to collect samples.
Many shopping malls, hotels and airports also use temperature tests to detect possible infections, which can leave large Numbers of people with no symptoms of fever, or no symptoms at all, undetected, causing a wider spread of the disease.
Masks equipped with sensors detect cases by identifying the virus itself, not the symptoms, eliminating this misdiagnosis.
And this is not the first time the Collins team has developed a product to detect a virus.In 2016, they released sensors for ebola and zika that can detect infection within two to three hours.The sensor costs $20, while testing costs under $1.
So, if the mask is developed successfully, it will benefit thousands of people.You'll get a more convenient, cheaper, and faster way to test for the virus, and you won't have to endure the sour feeling of being tested over and over again.
Professor Collins said it was possible to imagine people using them at airports, at work or in hospitals.If people wear them when they go to the hospital, the hospital can filter out which of them are already infected.
When it comes to progress, Collins says it's still "early days."Recently, they are testing the ability of novel coronavirus to be detected in small amounts of saliva from breathing, sneezing, etc.
The team is also discussing the design of the technology, whether to embed the sensor inside the mask or to develop a module directly to connect it to any over-the-counter mask already on the market.
In addition, because the rapid detection sensor developed by the harvard + MIT team can detect four different strains of zika virus, the existing technology is likely to help them detect different strains of novel coronavirus.
Currently the novel coronavirus has been traced to two major strains, one from Asia and the other from Europe, North America and Australia.
Despite the human and time constraints, the current state of development is encouraging.The Collins team says it hopes to begin production of the masks by the end of the summer and have them available to the public.