This new face mask can detect Covid-19 with 90 minutes

The novel face mask is embedded with tiny, disposable sensors that can diagnose the wearer with Covid-19 within 90 minutes.

Scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University in the US have designed a novel face mask, embedded with tiny, disposable sensors that can diagnose the wearer with Covid-19 within 90 minutes. The technology can also be adapted to detect other viruses in the future.

According to a statement by the scientists, the sensors are designed to be activated by the wearers when they want to perform the test. Also, the results are only displayed on the inside of the mask for user privacy.

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The sensors are based on freeze-dried cellular machinery that the research team has previously developed for use in paper diagnostics for viruses such as Ebola and Zika. When activated by water, they can interact with the target molecule and produce a signal such as a change in colour. The target molecule may be a genetic sequence or other types of molecules.

“We’ve demonstrated that we can freeze-dry a broad range of synthetic biology sensors to detect viral or bacterial nucleic acids, as well as toxic chemicals, including nerve toxins,” says James Collins, the Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering and Science in MIT’s Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES) and Department of Biological Engineering and the senior author of the study.

“We envision that this platform could enable next-generation wearable biosensors for first responders, health care personnel, and military personnel,” he added. Peter Nguyen, a research scientist at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, and Luis Soenksen, a Venture Builder at MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning in Health and a former postdoc at the Wyss Institute, are the lead authors of the paper, which got published in ‘Nature Biotechnology’.

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