Will Your Mobile Phone Soon Be Able to Detect COVID-19?

The NIH  recently approved a 24-month grant for researchers to develop sensors that can be embedded into mobile devices which could potentially detect COVID-19 particles on their surfaces.

The General Electric Research team is set to begin developing  miniature sensors that can be embedded into mobile devices in order to detect COVID-19 on their commonly used surfaces.

This project builds on past research and product development wherein the team will adapt electronic nano-sensors that are able to detect COVID-19 particles. In addition to phones, the team plans on integrating these sensors into a wide range of commonly used products and surfaces, such as tablets, smartwatches, computer keyboards and more.

“We have developed tiny sensors, smaller than a fingertip, that have the same detection capabilities as the high-end analytical instruments the size of a microwave oven,”  Radislav Potyrailo, a principal scientist at GE Research and principal investigator on the NIH project, said in a statement. “By delivering this exquisite detection capability of a conventional high-end analytical instrument in a such a small form factor, we can now consider sensing applications that you could envision being implemented as a sensor surface on a mobile phone or on a device even smaller than that.”