Thomas Mortelmans developed a rapid test for infections with Sars-CoV-2 at PSI. (Photo: Paul Scherrer Institute/Mahir Dzambegovic)
Thomas Mortelmans developed a rapid test for infections with Sars-CoV-2 at PSI. (Photo: Paul Scherrer Institute/Mahir Dzambegovic) - Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and the University of Basel have developed a rapid test for Covid-19. Its novel functional principle promises reliable and quantifiable results concerning a patient's Covid-19 disease and its course - as well as evidence concerning other diseases and Covid variants that may be present. Before it can go into widespread use, however, it still must undergo further testing and optimisation. The researchers report on their development in the journal ACS Applied Nanomaterials . A major shortcoming of rapid antigen tests - as demonstrated by a recent study by a research group led by Heinrich Scheiblauer of the German Paul Ehrlich Institute - is their lack of reliability. Of the 122 test kits from different manufacturers that were tested for the study, one-fifth failed and did not even meet the minimum requirement of identifying 75 percent of the test subjects carrying a high viral load as being coronavirus-positive.
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