Singapore develops breath test for Covid

Singapore, October 20

Researchers in Singapore have developed a breath test to detect Covid-19 within a minute. The authorities are working on a roadmap for the third phase of easing of safety measures in the country.

A person would have to blow into a disposable mouthpiece connected to a “high-precision breath sampler”, according to the National University of Singapore researchers. The test, which detects Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) in a person’s breath, achieved more than 90 per cent accuracy in a clinical trial involving 180 patients.

The exhaled breath is then collected and fed into a mass spectrometer for measurement. A machine learning software subsequently analyses the VOC profile and generates the result in less than a minute. — PTI