Courtesy of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
The breath test technology tracking the chemicals found in the breath to identify potential diseases.
After two years of nasal swab and spit tests, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center has developed a unique technology to rapidly identify COVID-19: a breath test.
Not only is the test less invasive than swabs, but potentially more accurate than PCR or rapid tests. This unprecedented method of identifying COVID-19 provides results in seconds by using nanosensors to identify and measure specific biomarkers found in the breath.
Dr. Pelagia-Irene Gouma had been developing a breathalyzer technology to detect influenza in patients, but with the onset of the pandemic, she recognized the impact her research could have for identifying the COVID-19 virus, too.
The first step was to conduct research affirming the technology’s effectiveness in detecting COVID-19. Though initially difficult to study due to concerns of spreading the virus, researchers were able to design an approach using patients already confirmed to have COVID-19.
“When we first started the trial, there was a lot of concern about COVID research since this was before the vaccine,” says Dr. Matthew Exline, the lead researcher and a professor of internal medicine at OSU. “So we needed a situation that was controlled so that our research workers weren’t putting themselves in jeopardy.”
Courtesy of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
Dr. Matthew Exline, lead researcher in the COVID-19 breath test study.
The ICU gave researchers an ideal test subject population.
“Obviously, by the time someone gets into the ICU, we already kind of know they have COVID,” says Exline. “The ultimate use of this technology would have broader applications.”
The research team found a distinguishable pattern detected in test results from 16 of the 18 COVID-19 patients and in only a handful of the non-COVID-19 patients. That pattern disappeared as patients cleared the virus.
“What we’ve found so far, with patients in the ICU and on the ventilator,” Exline says, “is that we’re able to detect a signal in our patients that have COVID. As we run it on the machine, the signal comes to a point, and then drops, and then comes to a second point, and drops, so it looks like a W.”
Paying homage to her Greek heritage, Gouma named this the omega pattern.
The breathalyzer test hinges upon nanotechnology chips that are specific for different gases passing over them. The COVID-19 test uses a chip to detect nitric oxide and its interaction with other chemicals found in the breath. That interaction is what creates the omega pattern unique to COVID-19.
Those results come in as little as 15 seconds.
What makes this breathalyzer in particular unique and exciting, Exline says, is that simply swapping out one chip for another enables the device to detect different diseases.
With the ICU trial providing evidence that this technology can be used to detect positive cases of COVID-19, the team is now developing methods to allow widespread use of it.
To get there, the team must research what the breathalyzer results look like for people who are healthy and for people who are at home with a likely milder case of COVID-19 compared to those seen in the ICU. Exline’s team is also working to refine the technology to make it smaller and more accessible.
“What excites us is that we can develop a technology where you can get an answer very quickly. It can give you a primary answer like, ‘Hey you look good,’ or, ‘This is a little abnormal, you should go and see a doctor.’” Exline says. “That’s what we’re trying to work towards. We don’t have it yet, but this work in the ICU is an important first step.”
The researchers have applied for emergency use approval of the technology from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Megan Roth is an editorial assistant. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
