Responding to the European Commission’s Express Calls to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, European photonics scientists are developing a new rapid, non-invasive ‘optical biosensor’ demonstrator that will detect Covid-19 in humans as soon as it is present in the body. The research team is currently developing an ultrasensitive laser sensor that detects coronavirus at the earliest point of infection from a saliva or nasal swab in minutes.

The research team says the technology still needs further adaptation and testing but could be available in a year at the latest. The laser-initiated biosensor is much more reliable than the coronavirus rapid-test, ‘finger-prick’ kit which detects if a person has had the coronavirus before and has since recovered.

The work coordinated by Professor Laura Lechuga (the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Spain) conducted by this research team is funded by Horizon 2020, the European Commission’s scientific research initiative. Professor Laura Lechuga said: “With thousands of deaths worldwide, we are in urgent need of a rapid new testing kit that is accurate, highly sensitive, noninvasive and cheap to produce”.

To know more look at the Photonics21 Press Release: https://www.photonics21.org/2020/new-%E2%80%98saliva-test%E2%80%99-to-instantly-detect-coronavirus-with-lasers