New COVID testing can give results within a second: Study

NEW DELHI: Researchers from the University of Florida and National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, have developed a new rapid and sensitive testing method for the COVID-19 biomarkers. The sensor system of the method can provide the result within a second, which has been described in a study published in the Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology.

At a time when the country is dealing with a heavy caseload of COVID-19 infections which is burdening the testing infrastructure in the country and across the world, innovative methods of self-testing are promoted. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has also recently approved a self-test kit which can give the results within 15 minutes.

Detecting the presence of virus involves increased numbers of biomarkers or amplifying the binding signal for a target biomarker. This testing method uses the latter one where it uses a bio-sensor strip which is similar to a glucose test strip in shape. During measurement, the sensor strips are connected to a circuit board via a connector and a short signal of electrical test is sent between the electrode bonded with the COVID-19 antibody. This signal is again returned to the circuit board for analysis.