SPOT (Scalable and Portable Testing)

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The U.S. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has invented a new COVID-19 Saliva Testing method called SPOT. SPOT is Scalable and Portable Testing. 

About SPOT 

• SPOT was invented by a research team from the Carle Illinois College of Medicine. The SPOT gives COVID-19 test results in thirty minutes. The test uses a new method of processing saliva samples for testing coronavirus infection. 

• The test, called SalivaDirect, has high sensitivity, according to a preprint posted on medRxiv on August 4. According to the preprint, the SalivaDirect test can detect when the number of virus copies in the saliva sample is as low as six-12 copies per microliter. 

• In contrast, testing nasopharyngeal swabs leads to false-negative test results due to errors at the time of sample collection. The sensitivity was about 93%. 

• The test is very much similar to that of the RT-PCR. But it uses Reverse Transcriptase Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (RT-LAMP). However, it does not need complex machinery or expertise. It can be completed quickly and is more accurate. 

NOTE: RT-LAMP is a one-step nucleic acid amplification method. It is used to multiply specific sequences of RNA. This technology is considered as an alternative to RT-PCR as it is much cheaper and easier.