Becton, Dickinson and Company Receives Emergency Use Authorization for First At-Home COVID-19 Test to Use Smartphone to Interpret, Deliver Results
August 25, 2021 at 04:10 pm EDT
Share
Becton, Dickinson and Company announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued an Emergency Use Authorization for the BD Veritor™ At-Home COVID-19 Test — the first at-home COVID-19 rapid antigen test to use computer vision technology in a smartphone to interpret and provide a digital display of testing results. The test does not require a prescription, a laboratory or a long wait for results. BD developed this new rapid, digitally read, lateral flow antigen self-test to make COVID-19 testing faster and easier for people to complete in the privacy and safety of their own homes. The test will initially be made available to businesses, schools and governments looking to provide a self-testing option for employees or students. The BD Veritor™ At-Home COVID-19 Test will use a simple, pain-free nasal swab and an easy-to-use mobile app from Scanwell Health that yields reliable test results in 15 minutes. The app is available on iOS and Android and provides step-by-step instructions on how to collect and transfer the nasal swab sample to the test stick. The mobile device's camera is then used to capture, analyze and interpret the results, which eliminates the human subjectivity of a visually read test. The BD Veritor™ At-Home COVID-19 Test is designed to be easily performed at home by people 14 years of age or older, using Scanwell Health's app to provide clear digital results in 15 minutes. The test can also be used for children as young as two years old with samples collected by an adult. The simple and straightforward testing experience includes a pain-free nasal swab, video instructions that guide users through each step and built-in timers so users can self-test with confidence.
Becton, Dickinson and Company specializes in the development, manufacturing and marketing of medical and diagnostic equipment and materials. Net sales break down by family of products as follows:
- medical equipment (73.5%): surgical instruments, urological care products, pharmaceutical systems, etc.;
- diagnostic materials (18.7%): automated systems for blood testing, mycobacteria detection, and molecular biology, medical biology devices, etc.;
- clinical research and development tools (7.8%): tools for discovering drugs and vaccines, studying genes, culturing cells, and manipulating liquids, instruments for sorting and analyzing cells, monoclonal antibodies, etc.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: the United States (57.4%), Europe/Middle East/Africa (21.9%), Asia (15%) and other (5.7%).