A portable tabletop machine that can diagnose COVID-19 test within an hour has been developed by the researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur.
Named ‘Covirap’, the device has been validated by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
The researchers are now in talks with manufacturers to market the product.
It may be mentioned here that the device has a sensitivity of 94 per cent and specificity of 98 per cent.
Further, the device is almost as accurate as of the gold-standard reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test.
It may be further mentioned that the device makes accurate COVID-19 diagnosis cheap, fast and accessible.
The researchers informed that the cost of Covirap will depend on the level of automation needed.
At the laboratory setting, the researchers manufactured the machine at the cost of Rs 5,000.
Each COVID-19 test in Covirap will be around Rs 500 to Rs 600.
