Israeli firm developing 30-second virus breath test
misgav (israel) — An Israeli company is developing a coronavirus breathalyser test that gives results in 30 seconds, billing it as a “front line” tool that can help restore a sense of normality during the pandemic.
NanoScent, the firm making the test kits, said an extensive trial in Israel for the presence of live virus delivered results with 85 per cent accuracy, and the product could get regulatory approval within months.
Chief executive officer Oren Gavriely said the breathalyser would not replace lab tests, but was a mass screening tool that could help people gain “the confidence to go back and act as normal”.
NanoScent has been operating for several years, specialising in rapid recognition technology, including for medical purposes.
Gavriely said that while visiting the US in January, he sensed his firm’s expertise may be needed to help confront the novel virus circulating in Asia that appeared to be spreading to the West.
“We said we’ll invest one week into it and see what’s happening, and this one week never stopped,” he said. The test begins with a few short questions about Covid-19 exposure and symptoms, displayed on the phone of the person.
Test subjects then inhale through the nose, hold their breath, close one nostril and exhale through the other, pushing breath through a handheld tube into a small bag called the “Air Trap”.
The tube is then plugged into the “Scent Reader”, a small rectangular device that whirrs softly as it sucks the air out of the bag.
Within seconds the results — “Covid-19 negative” during AFP’s visit — appear on the phone.
Researchers at NanoScent’s headquarters in northern Israel are refining the virus recognition technology, which relies on “odours and the pattern of odours”, Gavriely said.
After analysing the breath of 1,000 Israeli Covid-19 patients, the firm was able to identify detectable smells associated with the virus, the chief executive added.—
1,000
Number of Israeli Covid-19 patients whose breath was analysed