Breathonix, a spin-off firm of the National University of Singapore, has developed a new, faster breathalyzer-type test kit to detect the coronavirus infection, the Straits Times newspaper reported on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2020) Breathonix, a spin-off firm of the National University of Singapore, has developed a new, faster breathalyzer-type test kit to detect the coronavirus infection, the Straits Times newspaper reported on Tuesday.
According to the newspaper, the test kit which is still at the prototype stage with an accuracy rate of more than 90 percent, is very easy to use and does not require specially trained personnel. To conduct it, a person needs to breathe into a tube. The test result will be ready in less than a minute.
Breathonix's test differs from those currently on the market, as it does not detect viral fragments, like polymerase chain reaction tests do, or viral proteins, like rapid antigen tests, but registers chemical changes in a patient's breath.
With a pilot clinical trial involving 180 patients at the National Center for Infectious Diseases already completed, researchers are planning to conduct additional trials among up to 600 patients over the next few months to validate the technology.
So far, Singapore has confirmed more than 57,900 cases of the infection, including 28 fatalities.
