Chinese scientists have devised a new method of detecting coronavirus, just as reliable as a molecular PCR test done in a laboratory that gives results in minutes, according to an article published in a scientific journal.
PCR tests are currently the world standard for detecting COVID-19, but the results become generally known after several hours.
Researchers at Fudan University in Shanghai, China, however, seem to have found an alternative.
In an article published Monday in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, the team says they have perfected a sensor that uses microelectronics to analyze swab DNA samples.
The sensor, connected to a portable machine, can give an effect in “less than four minutes”, according to these scientists. This device has “increased sensitivity” and can be easily carried anywhere.
To test their machine, the researchers took samples from 33 people who had been infected with the coronavirus. PCR tests were performed in parallel so that the two methods could be compared.
According to the article, all the results obtained with the two methods were identical.
As part of the tests performed on the new method, 54 samples were tested, two of which involved people who had a fever but not Covid-19, flu patients and healthy volunteers.
Fudan University researchers say their machine can be used in a variety of situations, at airports, hospitals, “even at home”.
Aside from the fact that their results are slow, PCR tests require infrastructure and laboratories which in many developing countries are limited in number. This agent is inhibitory to tracing.
There are also quick self-diagnostic tests, but they are considered less reliable.
China is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of PCR tests.
It issued a test worth $ 1.6 billion (1.4 billion euros) in December, up 144% in one month, according to Chinese customs.
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