CBC News said the gadget can detect within 28 minutes the presence of the fatal virus at a cost of only 20 to 50 cents. Other test methods takes up to four hours to return results and cost $20 to $50 per kit.
According to an article about the device posted on Monday in the website of the journal Nature Medicine, the gadget can help contain H5N1 virus at its source. By detecting the virus early, antiviral drugs and quarantines can be immediately applied to infected poultry or person.
Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology and Genome Institute of Singapore developed the device. The institutes are also the inventors of existing H5N1 detection kits currently used in hospitals.
Eurekalert.org described the device as having a platform that uses magnetic force to manipulate individual droplets containing silica-coated magnetic particles. It quoted IBN research scientist, Dr. Juergen Pipper, as saying that the device can perform complex biochemical tasks usually done in a traditional biological laboratory.
Eurekalert.org said the device can also be adapted to detect other infectious diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome, human immuno-deficiency virus and hepatitis virus.
