This is the wearable developed by Yale University to detect if you have been exposed to the virus

Yale University engineers have developed a wearable device that clips onto clothing and can help people assess whether they have been exposed to COVID-19.

From applications to different gadgets have been developed to quickly detect contact with the virus, either from another person or from any object.

This new innovation from a team of researchers at Yale University called Fresh Air Clip, is designed to attach to a person’s neck and capture aerosolized viral particles around the person’s mouth and nose.

Its design is simple and according to the researchers, its sale price is low in order to make it accessible to all audiences.

Its operation is simple– The clip captures the virus particles on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surface, which is what the central screen is made of. At the end of a day, or several days, the user removes the clip and sends it to a lab that uses the analysis of the polymerase chain reaction to determine the presence or not of the coronavirus.

Prior to its launch, Yale engineers conducted tests to verify its effectiveness. One of the experiments consisted of supplying the clips to several volunteers who wore the monitors for up to five days. Of the 62 monitors used, five gave positive results indicating exposure to the virus.

On the other hand, the researchers affirm that it not only captures infectious particles but also, after their evaluation in the laboratory, they can inform us of the viral load to which we have been exposed. This is important as it means that the device does not simply provide an indication of viral exposure, but a measure of the level of exposure.

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Krystal Pollitt, a researcher working on the device, says that an interesting potential use for the device could be to test the effectiveness of ventilation settings in hospital rooms of COVID-19 positive patients.

“The Fresh Air Clip can be useful for early identification of exposure events and allow quick action to be taken.”, says the researcher.

In order to improve this device, its researchers seek to develop ways for it to offer a real-time notification of virus exposure, in the same way that a radiation strip can immediately notify a user that it is exposed to gamma rays or X-rays.