New wearable device can detect COVID-19 around you: Here’s how it works

Researchers at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) have come up with an effective and convenient way to detect the presence of COVID-19 in a person’s surroundings. This breakthrough comes thanks to a handy little device called the ‘Fresh Air Clip’. It can be used to assess a person’s exposure to the coronavirus. 

Krystal Godri Pollitt, the Assistant Professor of Epidemiology & Chemical & Environmental Engineering at YSPH has created this device. Her research interest has always been “to understand the relationship between exposure to complex mixtures of air pollutants and disease”, while research in her laboratory has focused on “developing novel analytical approaches to characterise personal environmental exposures to understand how these pollutant exposures can adversely affect health”, as per the Yale site. 

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This invention can detect the presence of the virus at extremely low levels, far below the estimated infection benchmarks. As per a paper published at YSPH, the ‘Fresh Air Clip’ is particularly handy since it warns people if they’ve been exposed to the virus, prompting them to get tested. As a result, the spread can be curbed to a large extent. Early detection to exposure has been the driving motivation behind Pollitt’s brainchild, the assistant professor confirmed. 

In this device, the clip captures aerosols on the surface that are virus-laden. Not only are they non-invasive, but also cost less and are relatively easy to use. 

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The research team also bolstered their study with an experiment, where the clip was distributed to 62 volunteers who had to wear them for five days. Two clips showed heavy virus presence and were worn by restaurant servers. A homeless person who put on the clip was also found to have been exposed to the coronavirus.

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Pollitt hopes that the clips will replace the largely unportable and expensive monitors that researchers use to sample the air in indoor settings. The coronavirus mainly spreads through inhaling aerosols and respiration drops. Hence, the wearable and lightweight clip works just fine for sampling. 

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The plan is to make the clips widely available to the public in the near future. It is expected to benefit frontline workers and those in the hospitality sector, or other fields where they have to interact with a large number of people on a daily basis.