Singapore has developed a COVID-19 detector based on a conventional breathalyzer

As the experience of a number of countries has shown, the key to victory over the epidemic is not only vaccination, but also the ability to promptly test people for COVID-19 at any time and in any place. And that’s why many teams of specialists have focused their efforts on developing new types of tests – fast, cheap and affordable. A breakthrough in this area was made in Singapore, where conventional breathalyzers were upgraded to detect the virus through a breath analysis.

The new test was based on the search not for the virus itself, but for volatile organic compounds associated with it. The presence of certain aldehydes and ketones in the exhaled air reliably indicates the presence of the virus in the body. However, previously bulky gas chromatographs were required to analyze exhalation, and Singapore scientists spent two years searching for an alternative solution.

The new device uses Raman spectroscopy – three Raman scattering sensors with surface amplification in the form of silver nanocubes. The system is mounted in the case of a conventional breathalyzer, it takes only 10 seconds to collect data. Then the collected samples are placed in a portable spectrometer and after 5 minutes the test result is ready.

At the first stage of testing on a group of 501 people, the new test gave 0.1% false positive results and 3.8% false negative results. The data were rechecked using a classical PCR test. With such precision, the novelty can already replace it, it remains only to work out the issues of mass production of new test systems.