Taiwan reportedly produces chip that can detect asymptomatic COVID cases in three minutes

Taiwan’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) has produced a new chip device which is capable of detecting COVID-19 cases with a low viral load, as well as those who are asymptomatic, in three minutes.

MOST said that Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) issued Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to the rapid testing chip at the end of 2021. This followed the completion of clinical trials on 142 cases at Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital (KSVGH).

The ministry added that the product is expected to hit the markets as soon as February, with planned EUA applications in the United States and Japan in the works.

It was revealed that MOST had funded the project between Academia Sinica, the National Applied Research Laboratories (NARLabs), and Taipei-based Molecular Sensoring Technology Co., Ltd. (Molsentech).

According to the NARLabs, there are currently two kinds of rapid tests, antibody and antigen for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test available on the market.

Whilst the rapid tests can produce results in 15 minutes, the tests at times can provide false negatives and positives.

KSVGH vice superintendent Chen Yao-sheng said at the news event that the results of clinical trials with the new computer chip in COVID-19 rapid testing indicated the device had a 96.8-percent accuracy rate in sensitivity and a 95.1-percent rate in specificity.

Moreover, the chip was 100-percent consistent in identifying COVID-19 positive samples with a CT value below 35, Chen said.

The chip device was developed based on the field-effect transistor biosensor (Bio-FET) developed by Academia Sinica’s Quantum Electronics Laboratory, according to Molsentech.