Washing machine company Bosch has developed a coronavirus test machine it says can diagnose the disease in just three hours.
The test is fully automated, could be used to help medical facilities to make faster diagnoses and is said to have 95% accuracy.
Dr Volkmar Denner, chairman of the board at Bosch, said: “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.”
The test isn’t just quick. It can also be performed direct at the point of care, eliminating the need for samples to be sent of to a lab for testing - a process that usually takes two days.
Dr Denner explained: “Time is of the essence in the fight against coronavirus.
"Reliable, rapid diagnosis directly on site with no back and forth – that is the great advantage of our solution, which we see as another example of technology that is ‘Invented for life.”
Bosch’s machine can be used to test for COVID-19 as well as nine other respiratory diseases, including influenza A and B.
Marc Meier, president of Bosch Healthcare Solutions, said: “The special feature of the Bosch test is that it offers differential diagnosis, which saves doctors the additional time needed for further tests.
“It also provides them with a reliable diagnosis quickly so they can then begin suitable treatment faster.”
Bosch is now examining how to can implement the machine in hospitals around the world.
Unfortunately, a timeline for this process remains unclear, as does the price of the machines.
