IIT-Hyderabad develops country’s first rapid electronic Covid RNA test kit

The test kit can produce results within 30 minutes for both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.

Sangareddy: Prof Shiv Govind Singh from the Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad (IIT-H) and a team of researchers have developed an affordable Artificial Intelligence-powered Covid-19 home test kit. The approval for the product, CoviHome, from Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) is awaited.

This test kit can produce results within 30 minutes for both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. The major benefit of this test kit is that unlike RT-PCR test which requires a BSL 2 lab facility for extraction of RNA, this can be done at home without expert supervision.

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CSIR-CCMB has performed the validation of the rapid RNA electronic diagnostic device for detection of SARS-Cov-2 virus in the swab samples independently with the in-house samples and hospital samples as advised by ICMR. These samples were confirmed for their positivity or negativity by the RT-PCR method. The validation report confirmed the kit’s efficiency at 94.2 per cent, sensitivity at 91.3 percent, and specificity at 98.2 per cent. Each test kit costs around Rs 400 now. However, mass production of the testing kit will help bring down the cost to around Rs 300 per test.

Speaking about the role of IIT-Hyderabad in helping the nation tackle the pandemic, IIT-H director Prof B S Murty said: “The institute has come up with many unique and novel socio-technological initiatives and delivered remarkable results during the pandemic. Prof Shiv Govind’s ‘CoviHome’ is one such admirable milestone. I am confident it will play a significant role in the safe and fast diagnosis of Covid-19 and minimise its spread.”

CoviHome was developed by the research team comprising Dr Suryasnata Tripathy, Supraja Patta, Swati Mohanty, and other students led by Prof Shiv Govind Singh. The initial clinical trial and testing of the device was performed at ESIC Medical College and Hospital in Hyderabad. “Dean ESIC, Prof Srinivas M, and his team Dr Imaran, Dr Swati, and Dr Rajeev played a big role in the successful development of this novel kit,” Prof Singh said.

Highlighting the benefits of this testing kit, Prof  Singh said: “A major objective of the research team for the development of the CoviHome test kit was to break the transmission chain through affordable testing. We have already filed a patent for the device and are now looking for industry partners for ToT of technology for mass production”.

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