UConn working on low-cost, rapid test

Portable device aims to detect in minutes using blood sample

As coronavirus infection rates worsen, a UConn engineering professor is working to develop a low-cost, portable rapid test that could detect the virus within minutes.

The device, designed by Professor Bahram Javidi, uses a finger-prick worth of blood to test for the virus. While it is still in the early stages of development, “If our approach is successful, it could tell the patient right on the spot if they have an infection, rather than waiting for days,” Javidi said, in a written statement.

Researchers are currently collecting data to determine the effectiveness of the device. Once that is proven, Javidi said he hopes to broaden his efforts to put the device to work in health care settings.

Companies such as Abbott Laboratories are already mass producing tests that produce results within 15 minutes, but many medical professionals have voiced concerns about the tests failing to detect positive cases.

Abbott’s ID NOW test and the BinaxNOW test — which Connecticut is rolling out in its public schools — use nose swabs to detect the virus, rather than blood samples.

UConn School of Medicine Dean Dr. Bruce Liang, who works with COVID-19 patients at UConn Health, is collaborating with Javidi to test the device’s accuracy. Liang called the test “simple yet innovative,” adding that it “holds incredible promise to help our world revolutionize the widespread testing of patients ... whether they live in small towns or big cities, or even general prevalence testing among certain populations.”

Because the test is “relatively simple” to conduct and easy to transport, the university said, it may be especially useful in rural areas where individuals may not live near a hospital.

“In remote areas in the United States and globally where health care resources are diminished, this could be attractive,” said Javidi, who holds appointments in the School of Engineering’s departments of electrical and computer engineering and biomedical engineering.

Researchers received financial support for the project through UConn’s COVID-19 Research Seed Funding Program.