CLEVELAND (WJW)– A Cleveland company said it has developed new technology for first-of-its-kind at-home COVID-19 testing.
Ohio coronavirus numbers: 7,835 new cases, 123 new fatalities reported
IdentifySensors Biologics said its saliva test is fast, accurate and inexpensive, and will soon go before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency approval.
Current tests usually involve a nasal swab performed by a health care worker.
According to the FDA, RT-PCR tests are highly accurate, but results can take days, and rapid antigen tests are less accurate. Such a test led to a presumed false positive for Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine earlier this year.
“We’re a very accurate test. We look for the genes of the virus, and if the test is positive, we know the virus is there,” IdentifySensors Biologics founder and CEO Dr. Gregory Hummer said.
Like the RT-PCR test, the IdentifySensors test is molecular, but it uses a saliva sample from spit. A test reader with a sensor uses an electric current to detect COVID-19 from the sample.
“Ours is a self test done at home without any of these other reagents. You don’t need a machine, you don’t need a lab tech, it’s very inexpensive and it can be done daily as many times as you need to,” Hummer said.
He said the test will use a Bluetooth signal to provide accurate results within minutes to users’ smart phones and to health agencies, as legally required.