At the start in Rome, in the Campus test drive-in of the Campus Bio-Medico university hospital, a project for the training of ‘sniffing-Covid’ dogs. From April to June, the dog units will be specially trained, by professionals active in the areas of safety & security, in recognizing the presence of Covid-19 in the sweat of patients who go to the drive-in every day to take the swab. The efficiency of the dog’s sense of smell will be tested with molecular tests for the diagnosis of Covid-19. The procedures will allow the traceability of the work and will be carried out in complete safety for the operator, for the dog and from a scientific point of view. The project takes off with the collaboration of NGS Srl, engaged in the use of dogs trained for anti-explosive safety in emergencies and major events.
After a first phase of experimentation lasting 6-8 weeks in which dogs will be prepared for the recognition of Covid-19 through specific techniques borrowed from training for explosives, the project will see another four to six weeks of experimentation on volunteers thanks to the collaboration of patients who swab the Drive-in Campus test. A sample of over 1000 patients will be collected.
Thanks to the collaboration with NGS Srl, engaged in the use of dogs trained for anti-explosive safety in emergencies and major events, from April to June 2021 the dog units will be specially trained, by professionals active in the areas of safety & security, in recognizing the presence of Covid-19 in the sweat of patients who go to the Drive-in Campus test every day to take the swab.
Inside a container of about 40 square meters dedicated to the project, the dog, in full comfort and safety, will smell the samples containing the patients’ sweat. The animal will never come into direct contact with the biological substance. The patient will carry out a self-sampling of the sweat with a gauze that will then be inserted in an anonymous container with an identification number corresponding to the patient. The dog operators will submit the sample to the dog who, thanks to the training received and his extraordinary nose, will give his response on the presence of Covid-19 in a few seconds. The operator will note the test result as positive or negative on a special log.
At the same time, the Polyclinic Analysis Laboratory will perform the molecular test of the nasopharyngeal swab of the same patient and will record the results on a database in which the patients will be made anonymous. “Our study – explains Silvia Angeletti, director of the analysis laboratory unit of the Campus Bio-Medico university hospital and coordinator of the project – represents the first example of a collaboration between laboratory research and field experimentation”.
“We are training our dogs to recognize the presence of Covid-19 in the samples collected at the Covid Center – explains Massimiliano Macera, CEO of NGS – Inside the container some boxes specially designed for the University Hospital project will be submitted to the dog. Campus Bio-Medico, inside which there will be the samples to be processed. Everything will come after an initial conditioning phase designed to ensure maximum safety for operators and dogs working with biological material. dog goes through the metal boxes and when it detects the presence of Covid-19 it will report it precisely but with discretion and will receive a prize “.
“The experiment we are conducting is very important from the point of view of epidemiology and public health – explained Massimo Ciccozzi, molecular epidemiologist at the Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome and promoter of the project – Just think of the use that is will be able to make these dogs in big events, concerts and football matches avoiding expensive screening tests and above all on detection times. All this, combined with the experimentation of sensor technologies developed at the Faculty of Engineering, will represent a great resource for the future towards a return to normality “.