What we know so far about German firm’s COVID-19 eye-scan test

Amid the growing COVID-19 outbreak in different parts of the world, many companies have developed a myriad of technological advancements not only for vaccines, but also testing. 

The most recent one is a coronavirus eye-scan test, which “takes just three minutes to identify carriers of the disease and has a hit rate of 95%,” according to a Reuters report. 

Munich-based Semic RF has put up such innovation, which additionally “reads out the disease from a possible conjunctivitis, current blood pressure, pulse, and body temperature of the test subject.”

While it’s still seeking regulatory approval, the company remains upbeat about its rollout by late May. 

How does it work? Just use a smartphone to take a photo of your eye and let it detect the virus via symptomatic inflammation or pink eye. “You take your app, take a picture of both eyes, send it for evaluation, and then you can have the evaluated result stored as a QR code on the tested person’s smartphone,” explained managing director Wolfgang Gruber.

“We managed to isolate COVID-19 from over two million different shades of pink,” he continued, adding that the site has tested over 70,000 people thus far. It can work for up to a million scans per second, with “the option to expand that capacity further—potentially allowing crowds back into mass-attendance events like concerts and football matches.” 

Previously marketed to firms and commercial users at 480 euros ($570) monthly, the team is looking into a possible distribution to private individuals as well.

As of yesterday, April 13, the World Health Organization has recorded a total of 136,291,755 confirmed coronavirus infections globally, with 2,941,128 deaths.