There’s now a Covid test that uses a smartphone

Health specialists revealed a method that uses a smartphone’s camera to do a Covid test, producing 100 percent accurate findings in trials and promising to decrease the cost of at-home testing down to about $7 each test, according to recent medical research. The new testing procedure was developed by researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and only requires $100 in basic equipment. According to CNET, each test costs only $7 (about Rs 525) if all of the necessary equipment is present. As per a research published on JAMA Network Open titled ‘Assessment of a Smartphone-based Loopmediated Isothermal Amplification Assay

for Detection of SARS-COV-2 and Influenza Viruses,’ users will have to put their saliva into a test kit that is placed on a hot plate. Consumers must then add the reactive solution, which will change the colour of the liquid. The app will now estimate the amount of viral load in the saliva based on how quickly the colour of the liquid changes.