Hate swabs up your nose? A new accurate saliva-based COVID-19 test could one day be in your office

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-08-12 01:00

Australia; International; VIC

Australian and international researchers have developed a saliva-based COVID testing machine - that could one day make highly accurate testing available in workplaces or classrooms. The system, named DISCoVER, involves inserting the sample into a microfluidic cartridge which then goes into a machine and is subjected to a process that generates a fluorescent glow if the sample contains COVID. The test takes around 60 minutes and it correctly identified 31 of 33 COVID positive samples and 30 out of 30 negative samples. The authors say the device shows potential for a point-of-care system, which would allow on-site diagnosis.

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Research Springer Nature, Web page

Journal/
conference: Nature Biomedical Engineering

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Monash University, University of California, USA

Funder: This work was supported by the Shurl & Kay Curci Foundation, anonymous donors, Emergent Ventures, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and DARPA under award N66001-20-2-4033. The views, opinions and/or findings expressed are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official views or policies of the Department of Defense or the US Government. We thank the NIH for their support (P.D.H. R01GM131073, DP5OD021369 and D.F.S. R01GM127463). J.A.D. is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). A.F. was supported by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.

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