It is generally believed that the existing covid-19 testing
capabilities in the US are essentially useless if the results are not obtained
for 7-9 days or more, as is currently the case. There are several rapid PCR
machines such as that developed by Abbot Labs, but the Abbot machine is error
prone.
Very recently a totally novel ultra rapid method has been developed in
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev by
Gabbi Sarusi. This uses a spectroscopic method previously used in
Physics and Engineering for pharmaceuticals, dentistry, communication, medical
imaging, quality control and even Astronomy. The method uses electromagnetic
radiation between the microwave and the infrared regions which is termed
Terahertz or THz light, which is nonionizing and noninvasive and is very sensitive to various types of
“resonances” created by intramolecular and intermolecular interactions
of covid-19 viral particles, which are the correct size for this type of
analysis.
The viral particles are
obtained by a simple breath test or by using throat or nose swabs, placing
material on a chip covered material that was devised for this. The sample is
then analyzed by the THz machine and produces a diagnosis within a minute. The
THz machine test kit costs between $50 and $100. And the THz machine cost has recently decreased
significantly. The database is cloud-connected,
and the data can be used immediately for analysis. Dr. Sarusi and his students
found the initial data from 120 patients was 90% accurate and that the system might
also be used to detect the viral load and the stages of the infection.
This should be extremely useful for the analysis of the rate
of Covid-19 infections and also for contact tracing.
