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There's an ARM Cortex-M4 with Bluetooth inside a Covid test kit

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Re: There's an ARM Cortex-M4 with Bluetooth inside a Covid test kit

#181

Post by belter »

daneel_w wrote: post #180
belter wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It might have its uses...If for privacy reasons, the testing subject is in a closed room and you want to make sure they report from the correct test.

What if the patient doesn't have a smartphone (or don't know how to pair/operate Bluetooth), or too many active test kits are lingering in the patient waiting room making it impossible to navigate all the devices? I don't see how this particular SKU would be a good fit for a clinic. Easier and cheaper to just give the patient a passive test strip they can use in their own privacy.

The point is that the patient might have a previous one and show that one instead as negative...or lie about the result...niche scenarios, but is this not an niche use case anyway?

Re: There's an ARM Cortex-M4 with Bluetooth inside a Covid test kit

#182

Post by pixl97 »

johannes1234321 wrote: post #142
mrunkel wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s for the Bluetooth piece. The optical sensor reads the result and the turns on the light and/or lets the phone know over Bluetooth. Seems unnecessary, but if people want to buy it…

> Seems unnecessary, but if people want to buy it… Considering that this is an article used once for a few minutes the environmental cost for production and deposition is high and society shouldn't tolerate ...

The environmental cost of getting more people sick with covid is also high.

Re: There's an ARM Cortex-M4 with Bluetooth inside a Covid test kit

#183

Post by voakbasda »

pixl97 wrote: post #182
johannes1234321 wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Seems unnecessary, but if people want to buy it… Considering that this is an article used once for a few minutes the environmental cost for production and deposition is high and society shouldn't tolerate ...

The environmental cost of getting more people sick with covid is also high.

People decompose. Electronics don’t.

Re: There's an ARM Cortex-M4 with Bluetooth inside a Covid test kit

#184

Post by evan_ »

evan_ wrote: post #67

I wonder why they didn’t use NFC. They could get away with a much simpler chip, or even a fully analog solution if they didn’t need the complexity of Bluetooth. Seems like you could just about accomplish the same thing with a pair of NFC tokens, a photodiode, and some transistors. Basic components. Connect one of the two NFC chips to the coil depending on how much light is reflected off the test strip. When you scann…

Interesting how half of the replies to this blame Apple and half blame Android

Re: There's an ARM Cortex-M4 with Bluetooth inside a Covid test kit

#186

Post by bzbarsky »

Nitrolo wrote: post #134
AlexanderDhoore wrote: post #116

As a European: why are there chips in this? I just broke open mine and it looks like this: https://imgur.com/a/muz7FIy I bought 50 of these 2 weeks ago. Were 3-4 euro a piece.

I'm wondering if they're subsidized, but the price in Germany at the supermarket hovers around 1€ each. I was really surprised to hear that these are not a thing in the US, any idea why?

The FDA has approved 13 test kits for at-home use with a self-collected sample, according to https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and...

Germany has approved a much larger number of test kits for use, per https://antigentest.bfarm.de/ords/f?p=110:100:4793921863454:::::. It was >50 as of August 2021 according to https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2021/08/te..., including from American companies that the FDA has not approved.

I suspect that the supply-restriction effects of the approval situation go a long way toward explaining the pricing differences...

Re: There's an ARM Cortex-M4 with Bluetooth inside a Covid test kit

#187

Post by [deleted] »

evan_ wrote: post #184
evan_ wrote: post #67

I wonder why they didn’t use NFC. They could get away with a much simpler chip, or even a fully analog solution if they didn’t need the complexity of Bluetooth. Seems like you could just about accomplish the same thing with a pair of NFC tokens, a photodiode, and some transistors. Basic components. Connect one of the two NFC chips to the coil depending on how much light is reflected off the test strip. When you scann…

Interesting how half of the replies to this blame Apple and half blame Android

[deleted]

Re: There's an ARM Cortex-M4 with Bluetooth inside a Covid test kit

#188

Post by thescriptkiddie »

AlexanderDhoore wrote: post #116

As a European: why are there chips in this? I just broke open mine and it looks like this: https://imgur.com/a/muz7FIy I bought 50 of these 2 weeks ago. Were 3-4 euro a piece.

It's to hide the fact that inside, the test is just a piece of chemically treated paper that costs less than 1 EUR to produce. That way people don't get as mad when they have to pay $200 for them.

Re: There's an ARM Cortex-M4 with Bluetooth inside a Covid test kit

#190

Post by johannes1234321 »

pixl97 wrote: post #182
johannes1234321 wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Seems unnecessary, but if people want to buy it… Considering that this is an article used once for a few minutes the environmental cost for production and deposition is high and society shouldn't tolerate ...

The environmental cost of getting more people sick with covid is also high.

Yes, but one can test without full set of electronics in each test thingy ...
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