Almost instant COVID-19 results with just a blow through a straw?
While it seems too good to be true, it will soon be available. According to a news release, a Dallas company has a new device that “may revolutionize COVID-19 screening with breathtaking speed.”
Worlds Protect is an advanced breathalyzer that is being developed and tested by the U.S. Air Force, Texas A&M University and Dallas-based Worlds Inc. It can provide nearly instant results by blowing through a straw.
“People can walk up and, literally, just breathe into the device,” Worlds Inc. President Chris Rohde said. “It’s completely non-invasive. There’s no amount of touching. And you quickly get a result. You get a yay or nay.”
During the screening, a person walks up to the touchless, barrel-like device, which automatically adjusts its height” and “blows through a straw into a copper inlet, and gets results back in less than a minute. The device’s sensors use advanced mass spectrometry to determine volatile organic compounds in the breaths of people infected by the coronavirus, not those without it. It uses its artificial intelligence together with a high-tech sensor developed by the University of North Texas to know whether a person requires COVID-19 testing.
Worlds Inc. is seeking FDA emergency-use authorization to use the device as a COVID screening tool. Its creators believe the device may be a screener for other diseases, and possibly even cancers.
For now, Worlds Inc. is focusing on COVID-19 screening so “people can get back to work, restaurants, places of worship, sports stadiums, malls — back to life,” Rhode added.
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