Researchers Create a Mask That Can Detect COVID-19
The area of wearable technology is rising quite quickly and could create ways to detect infectious diseases easily and accurately, without the use of a laboratory.
Nadine Hosny 
The wearable technology that is currently available on the market (FitBit or Apple Watch) recognize physical signals electronically (heart rate, breathing), but they cannot recognize any exposure to a pathogen or toxin. At the moment, this requires an entire laboratory to process the samples.
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University developed a face mask that can detect virus particles that have been exhaled from the user's breath. They also published a study where they outlined how the mask works.
The sensor in the mask is triggered by a single button and provides results on a reading strip in 90 minutes. The strip is similar to the rapid testing COVID kits and home pregnancy tests, where one strip means negative, and two strips means positive. According to them, the accuracy is similar to normal PCR-COVID tests, which detect the genetic material of the virus using a laboratory method called polymerase chain reaction.
To make the sensor, the scientists used a system in which biological sensors (biosensors) used to read and write genetic material (CRISPR technology) are isolated and freeze-dried. Pressing a button on the mask releases a small amount of water on the sensor, which reactivates the freeze-dried sensors which allow them to generate signals in response to the existence of viral DNA.
According to the scientists, biosensors could be used to detect other bacteria, toxins and chemicals. An alert could then be sent to a mobile app so the user can track what they have been exposed to.
"This technology could be incorporated into lab coats for scientists working with hazardous materials or pathogens, scrubs for doctors and nurses, or the uniforms of first responders and military personnel who could be exposed to dangerous pathogens or toxins, such as nerve gas," said Nina Donghia, a scientist at the Wyss Institute and a co-author of the study.
We are currently able to test blood, urine, stool, and saliva samples for viruses. All these require a lab for them to be analyzed, but these masks could hypothetically allow people to do this at home.
So when can we get our hands on this brilliant piece of technology? Unfortunately, that is yet to be determined as the Wyss Institute team are looking for partners who can help with mass production.
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