Preliminary experiments suggest the result is as accurate an indicator of infection as the PCR test. The research paper published in the journal JAMA Network Open, explains that ‘smartphone-based LAMP assay integrates reliable diagnostics with advantages of smartphone detection, offering an inexpensive diagnostic platform for SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A and B viruses that match the CDC RT-qPCR criterion standards.’
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The researchers posit that the smartphone-based LAMP assay offers the potential to provide a critical tool to mitigate further stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the LAMP assay can be readily engineered to address novel CoV-2 variants and other pathogens with pandemic potential, including influenza.
The method as ascertained by Cnet, requires test-takers to download the app developed by scientists, Bacticount, sit their phone over a hot plate with the rear camera facing down. You place your saliva into a test kit that’s on the hot plate, pour in a reactive solution. The app will then determine the extent of the viral load in the saliva based on the speed of a colour reaction.
While the experiment is promising, it needs further examination before it can be introduced to the masses.
