Cross-posting updates from my blog for those of you following up on this project :)

https://hefnawi.me/posts/detect-sars-cov-2-near-infrared-spectroscopy/

Update [06 June 2020]

Some people offered support

The idea for this project was to spread the data collected and share it with as many people as possible because I don’t have enough time to work on it on my own. It would be selfish to withhold ideas when others could possibly start implementing it, right?

I was reached by two gentlemen on LinkedIn, one of them offered to support the project where it requires medical trials and approvals and the other offered to support through his medical background and connections. This is great news to me and also one of them mentioned that he also has a team working on a similar project using NIRS in virology, which was very exciting as well.

A new sensor, countless possibilities 🤔

In addition, I received a quote for a very high-sensitivity very compact spectrometer that would possibly be a game-changer compared to the AS726 sensor; however, I cannot afford it at the moment so will have to save to perform any testing with it, I thought about starting a campaign to fund it, but then I thought I might not have the time to devote to testing it so that could be wasted. That’s why I include the details here in the update.

It’s specifically the Hamamatsu C14398MA-01 sensor, the sales team at Hamamatsu were very helpful to provide technical specifications and price details, so if you are interested in more details please reach out. Also, the initial lead time is 8 weeks.

Possible new technique

I also learned about the Terahertz technology, which is very promising in the field of spectroscopy.

Update [03 June 2020]

🧬 Learned about the Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technique for the amplification of DNA.

🌟 Also, learned about this brilliant guy, professor Miguel José Yacamán from this article

“In his previous work, José Yacamán has used surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy to detect glycoproteins and sialic acid as a method of testing for breast cancer, which is now in the final approval stage for commercial use.”