Research

COVID-19 Research

Title :

Development of a low cost anosmia screening tool to mass screen asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers

Area of research :

COVID-19 Research, Life Sciences & Biotechnology

Focus area :

COVID-19 Diagnostics

Principal Investigator :

Dr Jackson James, Scientist, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram

Timeline Start Year :

2020

Contact info :

Details

Executive Summary :

This project proposes to develop a low cost initial screening tool using the initial loss of smell as an indicator that needs to be carried out along with other confirmatory protocols. This will initially identify a large pool of asymptomatic carriers from the population and massively reduce the cost of diagnosis.

Outcome/Output:

The current approach largely depends on RT-PCR/ rapid antigen tests that require expert personnel resulting in higher costs and reduced testing frequency. Although, loss of smell is reported as a major symptom of COVID-19, a precise olfactory testing tool to identify COVID-19 patient is still lacking. To quantitatively check for the loss of smell, this project developed an odour strip, ‘COVID-anosmia checker’, spotted with gradients of coffee and lemon grass oil. The kit was validated its efficiency in healthy and COVID-19 positive subjects.

Organizations involved