A team of scientists from MIT and Harvard are currently developing a face mask that can be able to detect novel coronavirus through a person's breathing, sneezing and coughing. A fluorescent signal that lights up will indicate that a person is infected by the virus.
“As we open up our transit system, you could envision it being used in airports as we go through security, as we wait to get on a plane…You or I could use it on the way to and from work. Hospitals could use it for patients as they come in or wait in the waiting room as a pre-screen of who's infected,” Jim Collins, who led the research on the tool, was quoted as saying in the report.
This is not the first time that Collins have been involved in such incredible inventions. In 2014, the team has also creating sensors that could detect the presence of the Ebola and Zika viruses which they published their research in 2016.
Even in 2018, the virus-identifying technology has also been used to detect viruses that cause SARS, measles, influenza, hepatitis C, West Nile, and many other diseases.
The team also hope to adjust the technology to the current coronavirus pandemic through a face mask.
"Right now, the lab is debating whether to embed sensors on the inside of a mask or develop a module that can be attached to any over-the-counter mask," Collins said.
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