Bosch has developed a fully automated rapid test for COVID-19 in under six weeks that can help medical facilities make fast diagnoses. Bosch’s Viavlytic analyzer can perform up to 10 tests in 24 hours.
The rapid test can detect a SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection in patients in under two and a half hours. Bosch hopes that it can play a part in containing the coronavirus pandemic. The rapid molecular diagnostic test runs on the newly developed Vivalytic analysis device.
“We want the Bosch rapid COVID-19 test to play a part in containing the coronavirus pandemic as quickly as possible. It will speed up the identification and isolation of infected patients,” says Dr. Volkmar Denner, chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch.
The coronavirus samples collected from patients can be tested using rapid tests directly at the point of care, eliminating the need to transport samples that consume valuable time.
The test kits that are currently being used takes from one to two days for a result. With the rapid test, 1,000 tests can be performed on 100 devices when used simultaneously in just 24 hours, Bosch claims.
Bosch’s rapid test allows a single sample to be tested not just for COVID-19 but also for nine other respiratory diseases, including influenza A and B, simultaneously. The Bosch test delivers results with an accuracy of over 95 percent.
The rapid test is one of the world’s first fully automated molecular diagnostic tests that can be used directly by all medical institutions. The device along with the rapid test will be available in Germany starting in April, followed by markets in Europe and around the globe.
