Researchers at Virginia Tech are working on a device that would let people sample air for the presence of COVID-19, before deciding whether to enter a business or facility.
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“We’re trying to make it possible that someone could walk into a space, and within 15 minutes, do something like a rapid test of the air, to find out if there’s virus in the air,” said Linsey Marr, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech, and leader of the project.
The research would enable a person, utilizing a consumer-ready portable testing device, to detect the presence of potentially harmful coronavirus.
“You might be going out to eat at a restaurant, or you’re going to a movie theater, or basketball game or shopping, and you might be concerned, ‘Am I exposing myself to the virus here? Do I need to be concerned? Should I get out of here, or put on a mask?,'” said Marr.
Air sampling for COVID-19 is possible currently, using a noisy pump, approximately the size of a microwave, said Marr, that yields a sample which a scientists could bring to a laboratory, and learn the results in a day or two: “That’s too late, if you want to take action now,” Marr said.
To conduct the test, “first we try to capture a large amount of air — let’s say the amount inside your car,” Marr offers. “We use a big bag, like a big garbage bag, and you unfurl it, shake it around to capture enough air, seal it, then push out the air through a filter that would capture all the particles in the air.”
While the specifics of the user experience are still in the works, Marr envisions a “strip, like a rapid test, maybe you put a few drops of liquid on it, wait 1 minutes for the answer, and maybe a color change on the strip if there’s enough virus there to potentially make you sick.”
Marr said portability and ease of use are important: “You need to be able to do this with just what you’re carrying.” With the current test, she envisions the capture bag would be reusable, but the other aspects of the test would be disposable after one use.
“In the future, we’re interested in trying to build this into a less-obstructive sampling device,” said Marr. “Maybe something built into your shoes, so as you’re stepping and pushing air through the sample device — but we’re not there yet.”
Marr said researchers have been able to identify when there are potentially harmful levels of the COVID-19 virus present.
“We’re able to do them and demonstrate them in the laboratory, but I’d say we’re still a few years about from this becoming something that you could go buy in the store,” said Marr.