Covid lapel sensor

Tricia Smith interviews Krystal Pollitt from Yale University about the developments of a new sensor for SARS-CoV-2 to help us better detect the presence of covid-19 in the air...

Krystal - The clip that we've developed to monitor airborne SARS-Cov-2 is a small, wearable device that you can attach to your collar or anywhere else on your body. It has an opening in the shape of a Y that allows droplets and aerosol to then attach onto a polymer film called polydimethylsiloxane. The original motivation for use of this was: we were using this clip to measure chemicals, and this polymer is great at taking up many environmental chemicals that we are commonly exposed to.

Trish - And then, when you collect that sample, it's taken to a lab to be analysed?

Krystal - After someone's worn the clip, we have these aerosols and droplets that are collected on the polymer film. The clips are then sent to a lab and we use PCR to measure the number of SARS-Cov-2 copies that are being collected on the clip.

Trish - The device itself: is it completely reusable or is there a component there that is one use and then you have to throw it away?

Krystal - The entire clip itself is reusable. The only component that we have to replace is the polymer film, which we fabricate in the lab and is pretty simple to get in there between times people wear it.

Trish - How are you developing the air sampler? What else are you looking to use it for?

Krystal - We're all hopeful that SARS-Cov-2 and Coronavirus are not going to be a dominant focus of our lives, and that we'll live with it as cases continue, but there's also a number of other respiratory viruses that are commonly present, and that's what we've expanded to start thinking about. We've been looking at influenza as well as rhinovirus and other pathogens.

Trish - People can be actively shedding a dead version of the virus after they've had COVID, right? And that dead virus, that inactive virus, is not dangerous in terms of people getting COVID from it. Can you distinguish between live and inactive versions of COVID?

Krystal - We are only measuring total RNA copies of SARS-Cov-2. Now, if we wanted to look at the viability of those RNA copies we could because we are using this passive surface. We have deposition of those as aerosols and droplets on the surface of the film. That's not something that we're currently doing, but it's a natural extension that we could go into.

Trish - What do you think are the applications for this wearable sensor?

Krystal - We're not waiting to see if someone is infected and having them take a nasal swab, but we can see what is the potential exposure of any number of people within that indoor space that could have had a contact exposure. It could be placed in a classroom and then that could be indicative of what the teacher, as well as all the students, may have been exposed to for that period.