A device developed in Halifax, Canada, costs $1 and can help identify COVID-19 in sewer systems. The 3-D printed device coming from Dalhousie University is generating global interest as it’s been shipped across Canada and the world. They hope the device will help researchers and public health with battling against the novel coronavirus.
The device is a small, spherical-looking cage that contains an absorbent pad that collects samples from the sewer. The specimen can then be analyzed using lab equipment to determining if COVID-19 is in the wastewater. Other methods to test water for COVID-19 are very expensive compared to the 3D-printed device from Dalhousie. The estimated cost is around $1 making it very inexpensive.
The low cost makes the device accessible to more countries said one of the researchers. However, the lab equipment required to test the specimen is inexpensive but most COVID-19 testing labs would already have it. The Dalhousie researchers shipped roughly 150 of the devices to places as far as Australia and France.
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