Phone Swabs Can Accurately Detect COVID-19

A team led by UCL researchers from Diagnosis Biotech has developed an accurate, non-invasive and low-cost testing method for COVID-19 using samples taken from cell phone screens.

The study, published in eLife and led by Dr. Rodrigo Young (UCL Institute of Ophthalmology), analyzed swabs from smartphone screens rather than directly from people, and found that people who tested positive through the regular nasal swabbing PCRs also tested positive when samples were taken from phone screens.

The new method – known as Phone Screen Testing (PoST) – detected the COVID-19 virus on the phones of 81 to 100% of infectious people with a high viral load, suggesting it is just as accurate as antigen-lateral flow tests.

Globally active screening for COVID-19 is still a priority, as new variants keep appearing and the roll-out of vaccination is not guaranteed in many countries. However, testing is expensive and can be physically unpleasant, both major hurdles on the road to an effective testing and tracing system.

Since PoST is an environmental test, rather than a clinical test, it is both non-invasive and less expensive than a traditional nasal PCR test. This means that it is not only suitable for roll-out in lower-income countries, but also removes the inconvenience of current COVID-19 testing options, potentially increasing the use of regular testing among the general population. In addition, PoST sampling takes less than a minute and requires no medical personnel, facilitating mass adoption in large facilities and large-scale applications.

dr. Rodrigo Young said: “Like many, I was deeply concerned about the economic and social impact the pandemic would have, especially in lower-income countries. We knew that the only effective way to stop the spread is to test as many people as possible on a regular basis, but it didn’t happen because it’s too expensive and too inconvenient.

“We knew right away that this was something special, as PoST is a method that would not only make mass testing for COVID-19 much easier, but could also be used to contain outbreaks of new naturally occurring and man-made viruses. , to prevent future pandemics.”

Diagnosis Biotech, a Chilean startup founded by Dr. Young of UCL, conducts COVID-19 screenings in companies and schools in Chile to prevent outbreaks and maintain operational continuity as frequent measurements of all employees or students aid early identification of asymptomatic people and help spread the virus to counteract.

A machine is currently being developed by Diagnosis Biotech that builds on this research, safely taking a phone for PoST sampling and delivering the results directly via SMS to minimize contact.

Reference: “Smartphone Screen Testing, A New Pre-Diagnostic Method to Identify SARS-CoV-2 Infectious Individuals” By Rodrigo M Young Corresponding Author, Camila J Solis-Cascante, Andres Barriga-Fehrman, Carlos Abogabir, Alvaro R Thadani Mariana Labarca, Eva Bustamante, Cecilia V Tapia, Antonia G Sarda, Francisca Sepulveda, Nadia Pozas, Leslie C Cerpa, María A Lavanderos, Nelson M Varela, Alvaro Santibañez, Ana M Sandino, Felipe Reyes-Lopez, Garth Dixon, Luis A Quiñones, June 22, 2021, eLife.
DOI: 10.7554 / eLife.70333