Wash U scientists build cyclone-fueled coronavirus detection machine

Scientists in St. Louis have developed a device they say can detect coronavirus particles in the air within minutes.

Engineers and neurologists at Washington University developed the microwave-size machine during the pandemic. A study released this week in the journal Nature Communications shows the monitor works as well or better than existing detectors, and unlike other machines that detect pathogens, the device does not require an off-site lab test.

“In real-time virus sampling, one of the major challenges is collecting these low concentrations of airborne viruses,” said Joseph Puthussery, a postdoctoral research associate who helped develop the machine. “We need a device to collect this really low concentration of virus from the air and into a really concentrated solution.”

The key to detecting the particles is sucking a lot of air into the device quickly, he said. The machine contains a tornado-shaped vortex inside the box, which concentrates particles into a solution that is read by an electrode sensor. When it detects the coronavirus, the machine lights up.