A new smartphone application can interpret the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2 in serological rapid diagnostic test (RDT) results by combining camera imaging with machine learning, as per an ANI report.
Researchers say the visual interpretation of the results “can be highly subjective” with the application showing “only” 18 false negatives and five false positives from the 3,344 samples tested from 11 RDTs, thus leading them to suggest the application “could increase confidence in RDT tests.”
Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.
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"The app displays results unambiguously (positive, negative, or invalid) without interpretation, translation errors, or jargon. App location data can direct users to local health services for medical advice," the authors said.
It found that using an app to help RDT users confirm infection presents “strong advantages” such as teaching them through video demonstrations how to perform valid tests or blood sampling schematics. It also noted that the app’s 7-15 minute long “timely reading” reduces the possibility of false positives – helping in human error-free results, and allows for the real-time update of results.
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The research further noted that the app only allows “only quality-controlled and locally authorised RDTs to be read.”
Besides, using the app, the researchers suggest that health authorities use fully anonymised location data could produce live disease maps.
The study, co-authored by Paris-based researchers Gary JH Atkinson, Silvestre Bahi, Sandrine Bernabeu, Laurent Dortet, Cécile Emeraud, Delphine Girlich, David A Mendels, Thierry Naas Saoussen Oueslati, and Jean-Baptiste Ronat was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the US (PNAS) journal.
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