Last Thursday (14th), the FDA (Food and Drug Administration, US health authority) announced emergency approval for a Covid19 breath test, as a type of “breath test”. The technology is able to detect chemical compounds linked to SARSCoV2, the virus responsible for causing the disease.
The test, called InspectIR, is to be used primarily in medical practices and mobile test stations. According to the FDA statement, the application must be performed by a qualified and trained operator under the supervision of a healthcare professional.
“Today’s approval is another example of rapid innovation in diagnostic tests for Covid19. The FDA continues to support the development of new COVID19 tests to advance technology that can help combat the current pandemic.”
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Alcohol test to detect Covid19
The test is based on a technique that separates and identifies chemical mixtures and detects some organic compounds associated with SARSCoV2 infection in up to three minutes. When the invention detects the presence of these markers, a positive result appears. However, this is only an estimate; the person must confirm the diagnosis through a molecular test.
To validate the performance of the InspectIR breathalyzer, a team of scientists conducted a study involving 2,409 people with or without Covid19 symptoms. In the study, the test demonstrated 91.2% accuracy in detecting positive samples and 99.3% accuracy in detecting negative samples. With the emergency permit, the responsible company expects to be able to produce around 100 devices per week.
Source: FDA
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