The goal of this RFA is to solicit direct to Phase II SBIR proposals for development of novel, non-traditional, approaches to identify the current SARS-CoV-2 virus or other biomarkers of the COVID-19 disease for use in outbreaks of COVID-19, as well as for use in future pandemics resulting from unknown

credit: Flickr Hive Mind

How's Your Community Doing?
Check Out it's
Community Vital Signs

viruses.

This FOA is seeking applications for innovative portable devices able to produce reliable associations between biomarkers emanating from skin and the oral cavity to patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-1 9. Specifically, biosensing devices are expected to target skin or the oral cavity as sampling sites.

Skin biosensing must detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs, i.e.

scents or odors) emanating from skin in passive and noninvasive manner for use at the point of care.

In addition to VOCs, oral biosensing technologies may target a wealth of biological, chemical and physical biosignatures representative of COVID-19 that can be sampled from exhaled breath/droplets, saliva, and tissues in the oral cavity.

Leveraging the accessibility of human skin and the oral cavity, this FOA seeks 1) to advance novel biosensing technologies that are innovative, safe, and effective, and 2) to implement such technologies into devices with integrated artificial intelligent (AI) systems for the detection, diagnosis, prediction, prognosis and monitoring of COVID-19 in clinical, community and everyday settings.

For skin monitoring, the device can include Electronic-nose (E-nose) technology or Gas Chromatography (GC).

Thus, we are calling this program, the SCENT (Screening for COVID-19 by E-Nose Technology).

Biosensing devices for the oral cavity can be technologies that have been thoroughly characterized as safe and effective in preclinical studies.

Non-invasive, real-time, continuous or periodic measurements of VOCs and other biomarkers in breath, and emanating from oral tissues as signatures of onset, progression, and resolution of COVID-19 are desirable.