LAWRENCE, Kan. — A University of Kansas professor and his graduate students are leading the way on an at-home COVID-19 test.
"These little chips go into a machine and the chip would actually take a saliva sample and it will pull out of that saliva sample the virus particles for COVID-19," Dr. Steven Soper, a chemistry and mechanical engineering professor in KU's School of Engineering, said.
Soper said the test gives the patient an idea of if they have viral particles in their saliva. If so, that's a sign to get further testing.
Soper and his graduate students are working around the clock to get this unique testing ready for FDA approval. That approval usually takes years, but not in this case.
"Because of this COVID-19, they want to get new diagnostic tests out onto the market very, very rapidly. They are reducing that down to several months," Soper said.
His students use a larger machine to test the chips, which are made of plastic, and measure about 38 by 42 millimeters. The thought is while they are developing the hand-held gadgets, labs could use those machines to speed up testing.
Once the project is complete, the new device could potentially provide 30,000 more tests daily.
The KU team is hoping anyone could buy this at-home test in drug stores sometime next year. The cost of the hand-held device would be around $100, with testing chips selling for a few bucks.
"That's part of an academicians job: either educating students or getting them involved in projects that really make a difference. That's what it's all about," Soper said.
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