Engineers develop a portable lab which can detect coronavirus

Professor Chong Ahn from the University of Cincinnati (UC) has developed a credit card-sized portable lab which can be inserted into a smartphone to diagnose viruses such as HIV, coronavirus and malaria, within seconds.

To obtain results, the patient must ensure that they place their saliva onto the plastic lab chip and then insert it into the device’s slot. The information, obtained through the microchannel capillary flow assay of the system, is processed using a channel that combines the freeze-dried disease antibodies with the sample, as well as a channel that uses a freeze-dried luminescent material to allow the sensors to read the results. From here, the results are transferred to the patient’s doctor via a specifically designed app, developed by the UC.

Professor Chong Ahn stated: “Right now it takes several hours or even days to diagnose in a lab, even when people are showing symptoms. The disease can spread. The performance is comparable to laboratory tests, the cost is cheaper and it’s user-friendly. We wanted to make it simple so anyone could use it without training or support.”