Clinical studies are currently in progress to validate the SARS-CoV-2 antibody test
The person administering the test takes a picture of the test card using a mobile phone after a NanoSpot.A1 rapid Covid-19 antibody test has been completed. (Credit: Business Wire)
The University of Utah (the U) , ARUP Laboratories and Techcyte have developed a five-minute and easy-to-administer SARS-CoV-2 antibody test called NanoSpot.AI.
The patent-pending NanoSpot.AI test is conducted on a spot of blood collected through a finger prick. Later, the results will be delivered to the individuals via mobile phones.
According to the test developers, NanoSpot.AI is said to be significantly less expensive to manufacture than other SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests, thereby allowing to distribute the test to more people across the world.
The test will enable to prioritise SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations, in addition to easily detecting whether individuals have some immunity against Covid-19 for travel or immigration purposes.
Clinical studies are currently in progress to validate the SARS-CoV-2 antibody test.
A self-contained kit consists of all components required for the NanoSpot.AI test. The person administering the test has to place droplets of blood in three small spots on a ready-to-use card.
One of the spots exhibits the test result, and the other two confirm the test was accurately conducted. When the test result is positive, the blood spot starts to separate within seconds and helps to identify antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.
To obtain precise results, the person administering the test has to use a mobile phone to take a photograph of the card.
Later, it is sent to Techcyte for analysis using the company’s AI-based image analysis tool.
Techcyte CEO Ben Cahoon stated that the firm modified its digital diagnostics platform to work with images captured by mobile phones rather than microscopes for NanoSpot.AI.
He further added: “Our platform breaks each blood spot into thousands of features that the AI uses to statistically determine which specimens are positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.”
Techcyte, a U startup company, is involved in the development of artificial intelligence (AI)-based image analysis solutions for the diagnostics industry.