NASA’s E-Nose Device Could Help Detect Covid-19 Less Invasively and More Effectively
With the pandemic for the Covid-19 Different devices designed to combat the virus have been developed. Such is the case of E-Nose in order to detect the coronavirus with the breath.
The electronic nose was designed by POT and promises to find out if a person is infected without being so invasive. The project cost $ 3.8 million and was funded by the Department of Health and Human Services.
E-Nose It was created 19 years ago with the aim of monitoring the air quality of the air inside spacecraft. But now the POT is developing new functions to be able to detect the Covid-19 by sniffing a person’s breath.
According to its developers, the team could help mitigate the spread of coronavirusas it could be used in a similar way to temperature controls.
In this way, the health status of a person could be evaluated before entering a public place.
How does E-Nose work?
Recent studies have revealed that people suffer changes in the volatile organic respiratory profile (VOC) from the Covid-19.
“Researchers from John Hopkins University and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are working to identify specific VOCs in the breath of Covid-19 patients.”
E-Nose it will work by measuring “the volatile organic compounds and gases produced by an infection of a virus such as the coronavirus in the breath of a person with a series of sensors that mimic the human nose.”
The POT is working with researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
“Each sensor responds to chemicals in the breath differently. This allows scientists to map patterns associated with different diseases “
This is a team in development and testing is expected to begin this spring.
“Once clinical trials are completed and sensitivity and specificity is demonstrated, E-Nose can be deployed in factories, airports, supermarkets, and businesses of all kinds to rapidly detect active infections,” said Jing Li, developer of the device.
