The health officials there said that fast, less invasive breath tests for coronavirus would roll out in the Netherlands.
As of this week, test facilities in Amsterdam have started using the so-called SpiroNose, a machine that works similar to a breath alcohol test. A person simply inhales the machine, which can detect a coronavirus infection within minutes, reports Reuters.
The machine is the most reliable to detect a negative test, Mariken van der Lubben, an expert in infectious diseases at the municipal health services in Amsterdam, told the outlet.
“If you are tested negative, then it is a very reliable outcome and you can go,” Van der Lubben said, noting that a positive test should be followed up with a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. By comparing the two, it will help researchers gain a better understanding if the machine can distinguish between different types of viruses.
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“It’s a game changer if you can quickly diagnose or rule out infection within a minute,” Belgian virologist Marc Van Rans told Reuters. He noted that more data is needed before the machine becomes the ‘future’ for testing COVID-19 infections.
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Dutch health officials still ordered about 1800 SpiroNose machines to be used at various testing facilities across the country soon. According to Reuters, the machine was originally manufactured to detect asthma and lung cancer. “In the last few months, we have measured thousands of patients with corona and people who do not have corona, so we know what the average breath profile of corona and people without corona is,” said Rianne de Vries, CEO of Breathomix, to the news service said.
In the US, researchers at the University of Miami are working on a similar respirator that they hope will be able to detect a coronavirus infection within a minute.