Owlstone Medical (or the “Company”), the global leader in Breath Biopsy® for applications in early disease detection and precision medicine, today announced the publication of a peer-reviewed study in Nature Scientific Reports. The paper investigates the performance of filters embedded in face masks for supporting the detection of SARS-CoV-2 as an alternative to nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS).
Diagnostic testing has been a cornerstone of the fight against COVID-19 from the start of the pandemic, however NPS, the gold standard for collection of samples, can be uncomfortable and difficult to administer. Therefore, a system that could passively collect a sample as part of daily routine would be of significant advantage as testing continues to be necessary in disease monitoring and control.