WASHINGTON: The investigator has reported the design and testing of breath, known as Bubbler which relies on viral RNA detection to diagnose SARS-COV-2.
His name comes from the bubble sound that occurs when the patient exhales into the device.
This finding was published in a new study in the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, which was published by Elsevier.
Bubbler not only reverses the RNA transcripts from air virus particles into the DNA to be tested through PCR but also can be a DNA barcode, allowing samples to be linked directly to patients from originating and used to sort.
It can be used for simultaneous collections of samples collected and provide additional information such as viral load and identity strains and eliminate the need to stabilize samples, potentially allowing testing to be carried out at home.
“Lower respiratory tract involvement is often a Covid-19 precursor, so there are arguments for sampling which is more directly focused on the breath exhaled,” explained the main researcher William G.
Fairbrother, PhD, professor in the Department of Molecular Biology, Biology of cells and biochemistry At Brown University in Providence, RI, USA.
Virus detection by Bubbler is similar to the hospital PCR test; However, it is a better size of transmission risk due to detecting air virus particles.
Swab tests can restore positive results for months after infection because they detect viral RNA fragments in cells that survive in previous cells infected.
Bubbler can also be adapted for environmental sampling in hospitals, transportation hubs, and closed environments such as offices, ships and aircraft, researchers reports.
Seventy patients were treated in the emergency department of Rhode Island Hospital between May 2020 and January 2021 played.
This study tested samples from three points in the respiratory tract.
The tongue scrapse of the mouth (saliva / scratches of the tongue) and from 15 seconds the breath is exhaled collected in the bubbler compared to which of conventional nasopharyngeal PCR tests.
Bubbler is a glass tube with a glass pipette where the patient can exhale.
The tube is filled with a mixture of reverse transcription reactions and cold mineral oil.
This study determines that SARS-COV-2 can be easily detected in breath and more predict lower breathing tract involvement.
RNA viral is more enriched in the breath relative to oral samples, while oral samples include cells involved with SARS-COV-2 replication that the breath sample is not.
This shows the virus signal detected in the bubbler comes from active virus particles.
“Bubbler is more likely to be a better infection indicator than the nasopharyngeal wiping,” said Dr.
Fairbrother.
“Another advantage is barcoding, which allows the testing of the RNA-throughput virus to a small portion of conventional testing costs.
Barcode restores the order of the virus which also supports strain identification, which may prove useful because more information is learned about the transmission of strain specific care decisions.” Researchers Also shows how bubbler can be adapted to detect viruses in air samples.
To model the movement of droplets that are exhaled on the human breath, three unique nucleic acid samples are added to three private moisturizers in various locations at different distances from the bubbler in a room with high air flow and room with low air flow.
Although detailed exploration of this application is outside the scope of research, the results show the potential to use aerosolized nucleic acid to quantitatively map airflow in the room in the room and to detect SARS-COV-2 in the air.
“The technology can be useful in restoring services to industries such as hotels, cruise ships and casinos,” said Dr.
Fairbrothed.
“There are also epidemiological benefits for routine air testing at early warning sites such as transportation hubs and hospital emergency departments.” The test for Covid-19 usually uses samples collected from the upper respiratory tract by nasopharyngeal saliva or swabs.
Positive samples contain active viruses, but viral loads in the upper respiratory tract do not correlate with symptoms in the lower respiratory tract, such as pneumonia.