NASA's E-Nose Device Gets Upgraded to Sniff Out COVID-19
A device derived from technology used to monitor air quality inside spacecraft is being advanced for COVID-19 detection.
NASA is set to begin testing its E-Nose (Electronic Nose) to detect COVID-19 for human trials. E-Nose is a smartphone-based device outfitted with nanosensors and nanoarray technologies to monitor the air quality onboard spacecraft, but NASA is advancing the technology to sniff out certain particles as a person exhales.
"We've been working on E-Nose and these nanosensor technologies for the last 19 years, targeting trace chemical detection for space applications, and have repurposed this technology to address the COVID-19 pandemic," states Jing Li, the inventor of E-Nose. "The portability, low cost, and non-invasive nature of the device makes it perfect for on-the-spot community screening."
E-Nose works by measuring the amount of volatile organic compounds found in gases produced by infections, such as SARS-CoV-2, the precursor of COVID-19. Those VOCs are exhaled from those infected with the disease, which can be identified by the nanosensor array. That's the idea at any rate, as researchers from Johns Hopkins University and Lawrence Livermore National Lab have been working on identifying the specific VOCs found in COVID-19 patients, using them as biosignatures for the virus. NASA plans to field test the E-Nose in the coming months if all goes well.
Once the trials have been completed, NASA will feed that data into machine-learning algorithms for accurate, on-the-spot testing. What's more, the nanosensor technology is modular so that medical professionals can update the E-Nose as more accurate testing metrics become available. The researchers also state the device can be used for other applications in the space and Earth sciences, as well as continuing NASA's future exploration and research.