PSI’s contribution to COVID-19 detection

One breath is all it takes to detect the COVID-19 infections using a new method developed by the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in collaboration with the Paul Scherrer Institute. This new, non-invasive method has the potential to diagnose the disease within less than a minute. More concretely, it may find application at airports, schools, factories, or any other places where large crowds of people gather. The method is rather simple, a device, the so-called VOCUS online mass spectrometer (TOFWERK), examines the exhaled air and recognizes the chemical signatures or traces of molecules characteristic of COVID-19 infections. The PSI has supported the project in the testing phase during which a part of 5’000 samples were tested with two Mass spectrometers. In the future, this method may well find application in the detection of other diseases that leave a chemical footprint in the respiratory system. This new testing procedure will prove particularly useful in the detection of certain diseases in infants due to its quick and non-invasive nature.

Read the full interview with Imad El Haddad at: Das Coronavirus in einem Atemzug erkennen - La France en Suisse et au Liechtenstein (ambafrance.org)