US Authorises First Breath Testing Device To Detect Covid-19 Infection For Emergency Use. Check Details

The Breathalyzer test is said to provide results in less than three minutes and must be carried out under the supervision of a licensed health care provider

COVID-19 testing site in downtown Manhattan (Getty Image)

New Delhi: After almost two years since the pandemic broke out, a device that can detect Covid-19 in breath samples has been given an emergency use authorisation by the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday.

What’s the device all about?

The InspectIR Covid-19 Breathalyzer is about the size of a piece of carry-on luggage, the FDA said, and it can be used in places such as doctor's offices, hospitals and mobile testing sites, as per the AP report.

The test is said to provide results in less than three minutes and must be carried out under the supervision of a licensed health care provider.

Dr Jeff Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, called the device ‘yet another example of the rapid innovation occurring with diagnostic tests for Covid-19’.

What’s the accuracy of the device?

The FDA said the device was 91.2 per cent accurate at identifying positive test samples and 99.3 per cent accurate at identifying negative test samples.

 “InspectIR expects to be able to produce approximately 100 instruments per week, which can each be used to evaluate approximately 160 samples per day,” the agency said.

“At this level of production, testing capacity using the InspectIR COVID-19 Breathalyzer is expected to increase by approximately 64,000 samples per month.” Meanwhile, the FDA is also working on developing more testing capabilities, Shuren said.

The company, which focuses on portable opioid and cannabis detection tools, expects to be able to produce approximately 100 of the devices each week, which can be used to evaluate about 160 samples per day.

On the company’s website, it said that the breathalyzer is the first such device available for commercial use, according to Bloomberg report.