We are one step closer to an additional method of COVID 19 diagnosis, as a new COVID 19 infection detector face mask prototype has been created. The mask can make a COVID 19 diagnosis of the user within about 90 minutes.
The technology was pioneered by engineers at MIT and Harvard and was funded by The Defense Threat Reduction Agency; the Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group; the Wyss Institute; Johnson and Johnson Innovation JLABS; the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard; and the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation.
The masks are embedded with tiny, disposable sensors that can be fitted into inside of the face masks. The technology can also be used to design wearable sensors on clothing such as lab coats, which could detect a variety of other pathogens or toxic chemicals. It may enable a new way to monitor health care workers exposure to pathogens or other threats.
According to a report published on MIT News Office on June 28th, 2021, the sensors are based on freeze-dried cellular machinery, which was originally developed for use in paper diagnostics for viruses such as Ebola and Zika.
The report had stated that these wearable sensors are designed in a way that they can be activated by the wearer when they’re ready to perform the test, and the results are only displayed on the inside of the mask, for user privacy.
According to Peter Nguyen, a research scientist at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, and Luis Soenksen, a Venture Builder at MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning in Health and a former postdoc at the Wyss Institute, and also one of the lead authors of the paper, the test is as sensitive as the gold standard, highly sensitive PCR tests and also as fast as the antigen tests that are used for quick analysis of COVID 19.
MIT news office reports that the researchers have already filed for a patent on the technology and are looking forward to work with a company to further develop the sensors. The face mask is the most likely application to be available, according to the researchers.