Jang Jae-sung and Ulsan colleagues have developed a method to quickly and accurately detect airborne viruses, to inform public health and quarantine efforts.
Electrostatic force captures and condenses viruses in the air, and a paper electrochemical sensor checks samples for antigens and virus antibodies. Liquid particles as small as 1 micrometer have been successfully collected.
Current methods of airborne sample collection typically use vacuums that can damage the samples, and cannot collect very small particles.
A recent study showed that tests on the type-A H1N1 flu virus showed good results. Jang believes that since the coronavirus is similar in structure and size, the technology should be applicable to COVID-19, which he is researching.