A DOCTOR has designed a prototype coronavirus testing kit which uses your smartphone to detect if you have Covid-19 in just 30 seconds - and is now appealing for donations to fund the roll out of the invention.

Dr Matt Baker, a former cancer scientist at Oxford University, has spent the last two years developing artificial intelligence system to find hidden patterns in medical data. During lockdown he applied this to Covid-19 data as part of an international coronavirus competition involving hundreds of scientists and doctors trying to find the best solutions to the pandemic.

His wife, Beth Hawthorne, 48, a former pupil of St Osmund’s and Thomas Hardye’s in Dorchester, is now working to get donations to fund her husband’s invention.

His analysis method discovered a way to diagnose Covid-19 from standard blood test results, and won the competition, earning him a government grant of £262,000 in match funding. A prototype has been developed and the project needs to raise about £240,000 in order to claim the grant. The next step is for the product to be fully approved.

The testing kit clips onto your smart phone and all users have to do is smear their blood on a testing strip and insert the strip it in to the kit. A result is given almost immediately through an app.

Mrs Hawthorne said the new test has the potential to detect the virus up to two weeks earlier than others, before symptoms show, and for people to test themselves at home as often as every day. She said: “Some people may want to help us get this out to health and care workers, or to developing countries who don’t have facilities for the current tests. Others may want to get the test kit for themselves, their families or to keep their businesses going, or just want to contribute to ending the crisis.“The testing kit costs £20 and then it costs £5 to do a test, which includes the testing strip and the computer analysis. You can reuse the testing kit as many times as you like, so it is useful for people living in hotspots or for health workers. Current tests can cost about £100, so this is cheaper and much faster and you can do it at home. Although Dorset is not doing as bad as places like Manchester, cases are still rising rapidly and you have restrictions like the rule of six which are having a big impact on jobs and businesses. This will stop the need for restrictions because people can test themselves before they get symptoms.”

Dr Baker, aged 60, said: “Nobody knows for sure, and what we do know is that this is an incredibly difficult problem - but this has the potential to be the thing that ends quarantines and lockdowns forever, and gets everyone back to normal life.”

Head to crowdfunder.co.uk/end-covid to find out more.