New Mobile COVID-19 Testing Lab
Developed By DBT and AMTZ
To speed up the testing of suspects of COVID-19 carriers amidst ever-increasing cases of coronavirus in the country, many efforts are being made especially in the interior parts. In one such initiative, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Science and Technology, Health and Family Welfare, and Earth Sciences launched a mobile diagnostic unit I-Lab (Infectious disease diagnostic lab) on Thursday. In expanding COVID-19 testing in remote areas, this I-Lab is expected to be crucial.
I-lab is a Biosafety Level (BSL)-2 facility with on-site Biochemistry analyzers, RT-PCR, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In a day, it can run about 200 ELISA and 50 RT-PCR reactions. Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that the capacity can be increased to about 500 per day in 8 hours shift with a double set of machines.
The ability to diagnose other infectious diseases beyond the COVID-19 period is a unique feature of this mobile testing lab. As per CGHS rates, additional tests for other diseases for TB, HIV, etc. will be priced. These labs will be further deployed in the interior, inaccessible parts of the region after being provided to the regional/city hubs.
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and
Asia’s first medical equipment manufacturing ecosystem, the Andhra Pradesh Med-tech Zone (AMTZ) has jointly developed the I-Lab, the first lab of its kind in the country.To address the shortage of critical healthcare technologies in India and move progressively towards a stage of self-sufficiency, DBT and AMTZ have initiated the DBT-AMTZ COMManD (COVID Medtech Manufacturing Development) Consortia. In a record time of 8 days from the date of receipt of Automotive Chassis, from Bharat Benz, India’s first I-lab (infectious disease diagnostic lab) has been built at AMTZ, under this Consortia.
This mobile unit can be put on goods train for sending it to any location in the country as it can be lifted from Automotive Chassis and can be deployed in remote areas. The BSL-2 Lab is being attached to DBT’s certified testing centers and is as per the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) specification.
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New Mobile COVID-19 Testing Lab
