An Israeli company is working to develop an examination to detect a new corona virus through breathing that can give a result within thirty seconds, as a defense tool on the "front lines" in the battle against the "Covid-19" epidemic.
According to the company, "Nanocont", the developer of the examination, the extensive experiments in Israel achieved accurate results by 85 percent, indicating that the test could obtain the approval of the concerned authorities within months.
The company’s CEO, Oren Gavrieli, told AFP that a ventilator test was not designed to replace laboratory tests, but it would be a group screening tool that could give people “confidence to get back to work and behave normally.”
Nanosent has been operating for several years and specializes in rapid detection technology, including technologies used for medical purposes.
Gavrieli notes that the idea arose while he was in the United States at the beginning of the year, when he felt that his company’s expertise could contribute to fighting the virus that was widespread in Asia at the time, and was spreading to Western countries.
"We said that we will invest one week to see what happens, but this week has not ended since then," he says.
Before conducting the examination, a person is supposed to answer a number of short questions via a mobile phone, relating to the symptoms of the emerging virus.
After that, the person inhales the oxygen, silences himself, and closes one of his nostrils before exhaling from the other hole in a tube placed in a small bag called "the air trap."
The tube is then attached to the "odor reader" (Cent Reader), which is a small, rectangular device that circulates slowly while drawing air from the bag.
Seconds later, a "negative" result appears on the screen of the mobile phone connected to the test device, according to what the AFP team saw during his visit to the place.
The company’s CEO says researchers are constantly working to improve the technology for identifying “odor-based” viruses and their composition.
After analyzing the smell of breath for about a thousand infected with the virus, the company was able to determine the smells associated with the virus and detectable.
"We pick up the type of smell, record it with us, and then we can find out if the person is infected with the virus or not."
Nadav Davidovich, director of the Faculty of Public Health at Ben-Gurion University in Be'er Sheva, says the technology "looks very promising."
He adds to France Press that intensive testing during a pandemic is essential, noting that "nanosent" technology may constitute a useful tool in this regard if it obtains a license.
But he stresses that this examination should not replace laboratory testing.
Gavrieli believes that this examination can be a good option at the entrances to concerts, gyms, hospitals or even on airplanes, noting that it was actually used in a large sports center in Europe, as part of its commercial testing.
The CEO of the company explains that if the result of the breathing test is positive, you should immediately go to the laboratory to perform a laboratory examination to detect the virus.
The CEO of Nanosent states that the cost of the examination will not exceed ten dollars, adding this is only a "small portion of the cost of the laboratory examination."
The head of the research and development unit of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, Daniel Gold, recently confirmed to France Press that his unit is also working on technology for rapid examination. The unit also helps Nanocent in developing a breath test.
Gould, who led the team developing the Israeli missile defense system known as the "Iron Dome", said that a quick examination "will change the rules of the game" in dealing with the virus.