NEW DELHI: ‘COVIRAP’, the diagnostic machine developed by the Kharagpur researchers of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), has been successfully validated for its effectiveness in detecting Covid-19 by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) ), the institute said Wednesday.
After rigorous testing with patient samples by an authorized ICMR laboratory, following their strict guidelines, ICMR has now granted certification for this Covid-19 diagnostic test.
This test has been designed to be fairly easy to perform and affordable, and can produce results in an hour.
“This is indeed one of the greatest contributions in the history of medical science, particularly in the area of virology, and it is well suited to replace PCR-based tests to a great extent,” said Professor VK Tewari, Director of IIT. Kharagpur. in a sentence.
This new test method implements a highly reliable and accurate molecular diagnostic procedure that can be performed in a very low-cost portable device unit developed by the research team.
Test results are displayed through a personalized mobile application for dissemination without the need for manual interpretation.
“This innovation has made high-quality and accurate Covid testing affordable for ordinary people with a testing cost of around Rs 500 which can be further reduced by government intervention,” said Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Minister of Union education.
“This machine can be developed at a cost of less than Rs 10,000 with a minimal infrastructure requirement that makes the technology affordable for ordinary people. The testing process on this new machine is completed in one hour,” Nishank added.
While the Institute can produce the test kit up to a certain scale, the licensing of patents will facilitate commercialization opportunities for medical technology companies.
Dr Mamta Chawla Sarkar, an internationally renowned virologist who supervised patient trials on behalf of the ICMR-National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED), said: “A detailed examination of the test results has clearly shown that this assay has the ability to detect extremely low levels of viral loads than any other method based on similar test principles. ”
The new diagnostic test has undergone rigorous testing protocols per ICMR guidelines, at ICMR-NICED, an ICMR authorized institute. ICMR-NICED has further certified that the test is extremely easy to use.
After rigorous testing with patient samples by an authorized ICMR laboratory, following their strict guidelines, ICMR has now granted certification for this Covid-19 diagnostic test.
This test has been designed to be fairly easy to perform and affordable, and can produce results in an hour.
“This is indeed one of the greatest contributions in the history of medical science, particularly in the area of virology, and it is well suited to replace PCR-based tests to a great extent,” said Professor VK Tewari, Director of IIT. Kharagpur. in a sentence.
This new test method implements a highly reliable and accurate molecular diagnostic procedure that can be performed in a very low-cost portable device unit developed by the research team.
Test results are displayed through a personalized mobile application for dissemination without the need for manual interpretation.
“This innovation has made high-quality and accurate Covid testing affordable for ordinary people with a testing cost of around Rs 500 which can be further reduced by government intervention,” said Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Minister of Union education.
“This machine can be developed at a cost of less than Rs 10,000 with a minimal infrastructure requirement that makes the technology affordable for ordinary people. The testing process on this new machine is completed in one hour,” Nishank added.
While the Institute can produce the test kit up to a certain scale, the licensing of patents will facilitate commercialization opportunities for medical technology companies.
Dr Mamta Chawla Sarkar, an internationally renowned virologist who supervised patient trials on behalf of the ICMR-National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED), said: “A detailed examination of the test results has clearly shown that this assay has the ability to detect extremely low levels of viral loads than any other method based on similar test principles. ”
The new diagnostic test has undergone rigorous testing protocols per ICMR guidelines, at ICMR-NICED, an ICMR authorized institute. ICMR-NICED has further certified that the test is extremely easy to use.
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