A recent study on a new method for examining Covid-19 infection through a special self-analysis device (Covid-19 breath test), especially with patients in critical conditions.
Dr. Matthew Exline, a lung and critical care expert at Ohio University Wexner Medical Center, and lead author of the study said the breathalyzer was able to identify Covid-19 infection with an accuracy of more than 85%.
This study included about 46 patients who were in intensive care units on ventilators, half of the number had symptoms of Covid-19 and the other half did not suffer from Covid-19 and were present for other reasons in intensive care.
After collecting breath samples from the two groups, the results showed a high accuracy of diagnosing Covid-19.
According to Dr. Matthew, the analysis took only 15 seconds to give a result.
Dr. Matthew expressed that this method, despite its potential lack of accuracy compared to the current methods, is much easier and cheaper and the fastest method if compared to what it takes to analyze PCR.
“We started using a breathalyzer before the Covid-19 pandemic,” says co-author Dr. Perena Gouma from Ohio State University.
In the end, Dr. Matthew says that the advantage of the Covid-19 breath test that we designed is that it will be able to track Covid-19 even if it changes its signature, and therefore we will provide a quick and inexpensive way to diagnose the disease.
