Self-Administered Test Now in Early Testing Phase

BOSTON – A new clinical study being led by doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital could hold the key to unlocking early COVID-19 diagnoses. Researchers are pioneering a self-administered smell test that may detect the early stages of smell loss. This early awareness of exposure may trigger testing sooner and improve the overall accuracy of testing for COVID-19. Emerging research on patients infected with COVID-19 shows that self-reporting loss of sense of smell and taste are common early symptoms of the disease.

“There is so much we don’t know about COVID-19, but the research shows that loss of smell and taste play a prominent role in identifying possible patients with the virus,” said Dr. Mark Albers, an MGH neurologist specializing in memory and olfactory disorders and the principal investigator of the study. “If we can provide reliable self-administered tests to people and health care workers we may be able to slow the spread of the disease in the future and chart recovery of smell function, which may be helpful to determine when it is safe to reengage after having the COVID infection.”

This objective test of smell function coupled with tracking of symptoms is self-administered by participants on their personal smart phone or home computer to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19. Responses about symptoms and the presented odors are entered into a new digital health app developed in collaboration with the study leaders.

The smell study is being created in collaboration with IFF, a leading innovator of taste, scent, and nutrition, who donated the scents from their Living Technology collection. MFR Samplings, in Argentina, provided their support with 500 cards for the pilot study while Arcade Beauty, an American company, contributed odor labels. ADK Group, a Boston-based app developer is assisting in getting the first prototype of the app running for the pilot phase.