Scientists at a university research center in Turkey claim to have developed an ultra-fast coronavirus test with 99% accuracy that can detect results within 10 seconds.
Diagnovir, developed by researchers at Bilkent University, is a diagnostic method that is said to use nanotechnology to detect Covidine in a patient. It works like this: First, a swab is taken from the patient's mouth and mixed with a solution and added to a pathogen detection chip.
"It detects the presence of pathogens with high accuracy by receiving a fluorescent signal," said Ali Aytac Seyman, a researcher at the National Center for Nanotechnology Research (UNAM). He further noted that Diagnovir "focuses on the presence or absence of the virus using advanced optical methods."
This, he says, can reveal a positive result to the patient within 5-10 seconds, but it will take up to 20 seconds if the result is negative. Researchers aim to get approval from Turkish authorities to begin mass production of the tests within the next two months. They hope these tests will eventually replace PCR tests.
Has nanotechnology been used before to detect coronaviruses? Yes, other experts around the world have used this line of research to conduct rapid tests for Covid-19.
Burimet: Euro Weekly News, Euronews
