Besides the trails for developing a vaccine for COVID-19, labs and Pharma companies are equally racing to come up with an alternative for testing which reduced time to diagnose the novel virus. However, with the recent failure of rapid tests kits from China, both medical officials and citizen tend to lose faith in emerging test gears.
In the wake of which, the UAE based QuantLase Imaging Lab has developed a rapid laser test to identify Covid-19 patients, which aims to replace the current swab and blood tests that take several hours to process. While the new technology is expected to be introduced to the market in a few months, scientists who worked for the project claim that the technique has the ability to diagnose in real-time with “high specificity” from a low-concentration sample.
How is it technically possible..?
Unlike the traditional way of testing which goes by the DNA sequencing, the new test gear developed by the UAE scientists uses laser technology increases the possibility of making it widely available. Blood samples are placed in a set using laser lights and biosensors to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The rapid-test device detects tiny fragments that identify the new coronavirus.
While the team claims it to be a low-cost device, the actual market is yet to be decided. If everything goes well, the device can which can be considered as a breakthrough in coronavirus testing will soon be introduced into labs and hospitals.
