The “Stark Covid-19 portable antigen Lab” test is a highly sensitive portable laboratory for the rapid diagnosis of Covid-19. This method uses the ELISA technique for the detection of Coronavirus N and S antigens in cyto-salivary samples taken in the patient’s mouth with a non-invasive cytological brush. The test takes less than 30 minutes and a single operator can develop up to 20 at the same time. The search for the Nucleocapsid antigen makes it effective against all Spike variants of the coronavirus.
The cyto-salivary brush collects, in addition to a sample of saliva, also thousands of cells that release viral antigens in the lysis station of the test, which are concentrated and collected on a detector palette by specific antibodies. The palette, passing through a sequence of development stations, shows, in case of positivity, a pink colored band obtained through a chemo-colorimetric reaction. The ELISA technique has been a gold standard of diagnostics since 1972, it differs from other diagnostic methods commonly used for Covid-19 and is characterized by a high diagnostic accuracy in terms of specificity and sensitivity that cannot be matched by other methods. In particular, this test has a wider diagnostic window than the others and is able to find the virus even in the pre-symptomatic period, when the other tests are still ineffective. This feature makes it particularly suitable for hospital rule-in because it reduces the risk of admitting an incubating patient not yet positive to other tests such as RT-PCR or LFC antigen in a clean ward. Even in hospital Rule-out, this test can be useful in accurately determining the disappearance of viral antigens when broken RNA chains of no longer active viruses are still visible on RT-PCR for weeks even if the patient has already defeated the infection. In addition, the “Stark Covid-19 portable antigen Lab” test is rapid and can therefore reduce the wait for patients entering the emergency room, also freeing staff engaged in managing the gray area and spaces in which patients are kept under observation. The non-invasive sampling makes the “Stark Covid-19 portable antigen Lab” test particularly suitable for pediatric hospitals, children, the disabled, the elderly and schools. The early diagnosis that can be done with this test also makes it useful in screening sportsmen before retreats or competitions, students before exams, workers in crowded companies, military rallies. It can also be used to travel safely by plane, ship and for cruises, tourist stays within villages or traveling groups. The high diagnostic accuracy of the “Stark Covid-19 portable antigen Lab” test makes it particularly useful for monitoring the cohabitants of infected patients in families, communities and nursing homes.