💭 Open Vision Nubble (eng)
General information on the solution for detecting the SARS-CoV-2 virus in space and its operation principles.
Problem
Modern medical tests to detect SARS-CoV-2 (in the media — coronavirus or COVID-19) are based on biochemical analysis. They involve complex laboratory tests done by specialists. Personal out-of-laboratory use (without a doctor) of COVID-19 testing systems, as well as detection of the virus in the air in a given area by the patient is currently impossible.
These two problems are potentially solved by the technology proposed by our scientists.
Solution
To detect a virus with specified parameters (including coronavirus) in the surrounding space, we propose to consider the hypothesis of using not a biochemical but a physical approach based on a binary indicator evaluating system.
It does not require the use of existing medical tests based on chemical reactions with reagents.
A simple, affordable device will allow you to detect SARS-CoV-2 in the air reliably and instantly, in real-time (air sample analysis takes 1~5 minutes).
Combining the expertise of our project portfolio, we are developing a comprehensive ecosystem for virus diagnosis and spreading control: from the Nubble device and predicting the risks of virus spreading, including automatic notification of its potential carriers based on online data from each activated device (secure cloud access), to the obok.me app with the immune passport features (verifiable credentials, Self Sovereign Identity (SSI)-enabled blockchain-based) and real-time monitoring of safe public places.
As a result, public places / small businesses / airports / taxis / services will be able to resume normal operation, maintaining a stable economy.
The installation operation principle and design
Stage 0
Drawing in a portion of surrounding air
At Stage 0, the device draws in a portion of surrounding air, together with the smallest particles in it, into Block A.
Block A contains a compartment filled with a special reagent (gel), a picosecond laser, an optical trap, and an electric field generator and a microwave radiation generator.
Stage 1
Selectivity
Drawn-in particles (molecules, viruses, bacteria) alternately fall into an optical trap, where they are fixed in a gel medium, which can significantly limit the oscillatory component.
A picosecond laser aimed at the centre of an optical trap ensures that particles are knocked out of it with a pulse frequency of 10~12 degrees, thereby creating conditions for sequential holding particles from the air.
Stage 2
The destruction of fixed particle chemical bonds
Recent scientific studies have shown that the coronavirus capsid (its protein membrane) is destroyed when exposed to 100 W @ 2.45 GHz microwave radiation. The impact of this type of radiation on the coronavirus capsid causes chemical bonds in the protein coat to break.
In Block A, microwave radiation is generated with the parameters described above. The radiation is directed to the intersection of lasers, where the formed optical trap is holding a particle (virus) at the moment.
When fixed in a gel and an optical trap, the oscillatory component of a particle depends only on its own structure.
The installation is initially tuned to the characteristic range of coronavirus capsid oscillations and does not destroy the chemical bonds of another molecules.
The destruction of chemical bonds
Provided that the average oscillation frequency of the virus molecule in space is determined (which is our goal of attracting the viral laboratories to cooperate), then, by supplying electromagnetic oscillations of the same frequency, but in antiphase, the total oscillations can be compensated for, which will cause internal forces to break the molecule.
The gap will occur at the weakest links. If the frequency and power of the microwave radiation are closer to the C-C oscillation frequency, then the break will be primarily in the C-H bonds, and then in the C-C bonds, which will allow breaking the protein into a large number of amino acids.
As an alternative solution, we propose to use waves not in antiphase but in the same phase as the protein molecule oscillations, which will double the total oscillation mode of the protein. If the oscillation energy exceeds the energy of C-C, C-H and other elements, these bonds inside the protein can be broken with the subsequent release of amino acids and free radicals.
Stage 3
Fixing the emission of free radicals by detecting the occurrence of short-term disturbances in an electric field
The installation fixes the destruction of chemical bonds of the particle as follows:
When a coronavirus capsid or chemical bonds of its protein coat break, free radicals are released with the additional occurrence of amino acids and other particles.
Free radicals, being particles with unpaired electrons on their outer electron shell, constantly strive to borrow additional electrons from other molecules into their electronic orbit. For this reason, they interact with molecules that can provide them with such electrons.
At the first stage, the installation forms an electric field around an optical trap where the interaction of free radicals with molecules, carriers of electrons, will make for the process of electron transfer from one orbit to another.
Since this process proceeds in the electric field, the interaction of free radicals with the transfer of a charged particle in the electric field will give rise to a short-term flow of electric current, which will cause disturbance in the general electric field of Block A.
Stage 4
Data analysis. Binary evaluating system
Block B contains a system of optical and electromagnetic sensors for recording disturbances in the electric field of Block A.
Two outcomes of events:
1. YES. The sensor recorded disturbances in the electric field.
Since the installation is initially tuned only to the predetermined specified oscillation component of the coronavirus capsid, the recorded release of free radicals will indicate the presence of coronavirus in the drawn-in portion of air with particles.
If the oscillation mode of a molecule or other particle is lower or higher, even by 0.1 fraction of the specified one, resonance will not occur.
Data is transferred to block C responsible for their processing, interaction with a secure cloud service for monitoring and localizing the virus.
The virus is detected in the drawn-in portion of air
2. NO. The sensor did not record a disturbance in the electric field.
The absence of disturbance during the course of the first three processes means that the reaction with the breaking of chemical bonds did not occur, and there is no coronavirus in the drawn-in portion.
If no disturbance in the electric field (at step 4) has been recorded, the picosecond laser knocks the retained particle from the optical trap, thereby creating conditions for another particle to fall into the optical trap, after which a cyclic repeat of steps 2~4 occurs until the disturbance in the electric field of Block A is detected.
Goals and objectives of laboratory research
Under laboratory conditions, 2 types of work will be carried out.
- Determination of the oscillation mode of the coronavirus capsid under conditions of holding the coronavirus in an optical trap, followed by determination of the most suitable type of wave that causes the breaking of the coronavirus chemical bonds due to their excess energy
- Since the preliminary data on the type of wave capable of destroying the coronavirus capsid is available, we plan to expose coronavirus with 100 W @ 2.45 GHz microwave radiation and study the reaction to this microwave radiation.
Summary
This technology uses the following phenomena and processes to detect coronavirus:
- An optical trap that retain virus for some time.
- A microwave radiation generator aimed to break chemical bonds to release free radicals.
- The interaction of free radicals with the borrowing of electrons, which under the conditions of an electric field will generate a short-term electric current.
- A system of optical and electromagnetic sensors for recording physical phenomena.
The setup is tuned only for the oscillation component of the coronavirus capsid, so the presence of free radicals will indicate the presence of coronavirus in a given portion of air with particles.
If the oscillation mode of a molecule or other particle is lower or higher, even by 0.1 fraction of the specified one, resonance will not occur.
Current (minimum) prototype characteristics
- Dimensions: 20x40 cm;
- Scan area per device: 2~2.5 m2 (it is possible to increase productivity by increasing the vacuum block power);
- Powered by battery or mains;
- Diagnostic speed: 1 to 5 minutes (due to the speed of physical reactions: each installation sorts about 12 million particles, molecules in 1 second)
Applications:
- In residential premises;
- In public places (shops, cafes, cinemas, parks, offices, enterprises, airports, etc.);
- In vehicles.
Comparison with existing coronavirus diagnostic solutions
Chemical and chemical-biological methods
Existing testing methods are not able to detect coronavirus in the environment.
Rapid tests (15 min) are based on an indirect method; rapid tests determine the presence of antibodies, not coronavirus, in the body, and based on it, they conclude that the virus may be present. These systems determine the antibodies that the body begins to produce no earlier than a week after infection.
The most accurate and reliable method for diagnosing a viral infection in the human body is the PCR test. However, obtaining the result in the laboratory takes about 5 hours.
Nubble (a reliable test takes 1~5 min) provides the ability to detect the presence of coronavirus in the surrounding space.
Physical methods
At the moment, there are many solutions that allow elements to be determined in a portion of particles: spectrometers, mass spectrometers, biochemical, chemical analysers, optical emission spectrometers, laser analysers, etc.
All this ultra-high-precision equipment is large and operated exclusively by specialists. It takes more than one hour to process the data.
Our concept does not analyse the composition of elements, does not determine the oscillation spectrum of a molecule or virus. It allows you to reliably detect them or confirm their absence, based on the occurrence of the above-mentioned physical phenomena in the presence or absence of a certain type of virus.
This operation principle allows you to produce a system that initially focuses on the detection of a virus using a binary evaluation system, which allows this installation to be compact in size, dispense with specialists and give an answer within 1 minute.Команда проекта
The project team
Authors of the scientific hypothesis: Denis Zimnitsky and Alexey Zimnitsky.
The scientific activity of the Zimnitsky brothers began in 2012 with the development of the Emolyze project — the concept of non-contact diagnosis of the organ state in order to detect various diseases.
The project was successfully presented as part of Startup.Network, Ukraine, the prototype construction phase was completed (it is at the stage of R&D tests).
At the end of 2018, with the support of Angel Investor Viktor Konovalov (CEO, Marsarra and Emolyze partner), the Zimnitsky brothers presented the Marsarra project for the synthesis of substances without the use of chemicals, which was awarded the NASA CO2 Conversion Challenge.
Innovative technologies combining medicine and physics have become the main research focus of the Zimnitsky brothers.
The research results of the Zimnitsky brothers in the Emolyze project were transformed into the development of the Nubble concept for determining the presence of coronavirus in the surrounding space based on physical reactions, rather than generally accepted chemical ones.
At the moment, the concept is being validated with a number of interested laboratories; the functional elements of the MVP device are ready to determine the presence of coronavirus in a given air space.
The main problem we are facing now is access to laboratory studies of Covid-19 and testing the hypothesis of the possibility of determining the characteristic range of coronavirus oscillations.
Following the Equal access to technology ideology, the project team has revealed all the best practices to the wide scientific community in order to accelerate practical implementation.
💬 Contact the team
Additional publications:
🤔 Open Vision Nubble FAQ
🤝 Equal access to technology: Open Manifesto
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Источники
- Coronavirus envelope protein: current knowledge
- Efficient Structure Resonance Energy Transfer from Microwaves to Confined Acoustic Vibrations in Viruses
- Focus on Receptors for Coronaviruses with Special Reference to Angiotensin-converting Enzyme 2 as a Potential Drug Target — A Perspective.
- Inactivation of the coronavirus that induces severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS-CoV
- Optical manipulation of a single human virus for study of viral-cell interactions
- Optical trapping
- Optical trapping and manipulation of viruses and bacteria
- Optical Trapping, Sizing, and Probing Acoustic Modes of a Small Virus
- Optical Tweezers to Study Viruses
- Biochemical sensing in graphene-enhanced microfiber resonators with individual molecule sensitivity and selectivity.
- Barnes, Levi.(2005). Energy-resolved positron-molecule annihilation: vibrational Feshbach resonances and bound states.
- Low Frequency Mechanical Modes of Viral Capsids: An Atomistic Approach
