Coronavirus Update: Paper-Strip Urine Test Kits To Detect COVID-19 In The Making

A paper-strip urine test to detect the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is currently being developed. According to the experts at Iowa State University, it is just like a little home pregnancy test kit.

The new paper-strip urine test is designed in such a way that it can detect the presence of a coronavirus protein in any given urine sample. The researchers say that the test will, therefore, be up to 1,000 times more sensitive than a home pregnancy test kit.

The Research:

Robbyn Anand, an Iowa State assistant professor of chemistry and lead researcher alongside his students working in her research group will be using electric fields to boost the sensitivity of the new test kit.

The technology and field of study behind this test- electrokinetics is what Anand has been working with for the past 16 years to concentrate, separate, isolate, and manipulate charged particles.

Their project is built on previous research that uses electric fields to help detect an inflammatory protein for Sjogren’s syndrome which is an autoimmune disease.

“Protein-detection technology is a little like a dam. As fluid flows through the paper strip, the electric field backs up charged molecules—including proteins—so the test line on the paper is exposed to a higher concentration of them for a longer time. Both help with the sensitivity of the test," Anand told Phys.Org.

Anand opines that the new urine test to detect COVID-19 should work with either urine or saliva samples to deliver quick results. The test could be taken anywhere- be it at home, workplaces, or a doctor's office.

But the test might need a small power source. The research team has begun testing it using common 9-volt batteries and would soon be exploring powering tests with devices similar to the charges that are used with certain electric toothbrushes.

They are also going to explore another kind of COVID-19 testing that would involve a 3-D printed card that they have already developed to detect DNA products from reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests- the typical nasal-swab tests that have been used to detect coronavirus. But the only difference is that their card would be more sensitive than the ones that are currently used to test COVID-19.