Every day thousands of samples arrive at each of the labs for Covid-19 testing. Checking all this and preparing reports is also a difficult task. Many people are at risk of contracting the disease every day. Most of these labs perform RTPCR tests and antigen tests.
But scientists have found a new way to diagnose Covid-19. It is a technology that allows people to make diagnoses using their smartphones. The technology was developed by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. Initially it costs 100 dollars, but once you buy all the items you need, subsequent checks can cost up to 7 dollar each.
All you need to make a testing kit is a simple plate, a reactive solution, and a smartphone. You need to have a free app called 'Back Count' installed on your phone. This application is to find out whether Covid-19 is negative or positive from the data captured by the camera on the phone. In a study published at the JAMA Network Open, entitled 'Assessment of a Smartphone-Based Loop-Mediated Isothermal Assay for Detection of SARS-COV-2 and Influenza Viruses', Covid's presence can be detected by the client's in his own saliva test kit.
When the reactive solution is added to the saliva placed on the hot plate, its color changes. This is followed by measuring the presence of the virus using the app. This is calculated by changing the color of the solution.
This technique is called Smart-LAMP. It is said to be able to identify five major variants of Covid-19. Although such a technique has been invented by researchers, it has not been made available to the public. The researchers tested the technique on 20 symptomatic Covid-19 patients and 30 asymptomatic patients. The experiment was carried out using Samsung Galaxy S9 smartphones. The validity of this experiment can only be ascertained after further crossings and experiments. We can all use it only after getting enough approvals. It will have to wait a long time.