The virus that causes COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) has overlapping symptoms with other respiratory pathogens, such as influenza, which each require different treatment strategies. Further, antigen-based testing kits have limited accuracy, and the more reliable PCR nucleic acid tests are expensive and time-consuming. With the Bacticount app and a new nucleic acid testing method, saliva specimens can now be tested for COVID-19 and influenza in about half an hour using a smartphone, for $7(USD) per sample.

Bacticount is an app for identifying and quantifying pathogens from patient specimens (saliva, blood, urine, or feces). The app uses a smartphone camera to measure a chemical reaction, and determines a diagnosis in 25 minutes for up to 96 samples at a time.

Download Bacticount for Samsung Galaxy S9 smartphones here from the Google Play store. Bacticount is not compatible with other phone models at this time due to camera calibration requirements.

Disclaimer: Bacticount is a proof of concept for the scientific community, and has not been approved to diagnose or treat any disease.