COVIRAP

In news: Recently, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has validated the efficacy of the Covid-19 method called COVIRAP

What is COVIRAP?

It is a cuboid-shaped portable testing device that can deliver results in an hour, making it an effective tool to scale up coronavirus screening in peripheral and rural areas

Who developed it?

A new diagnostic test for Covid-19 called COVIRAP was developed by IIT Kharagpur 

How does it work?

• COVIRA has an automated pre-programmable temperature control unit, a special detection unit on genomic analysis, and a customised smartphone app for results.
• Three master mixes work as markers of different genes to confirm the presence of SARS-CoV-2
• Samples collected react with these mixes. 
• When paper strips are dipped into these reaction products, coloured lines indicate the presence of the virus.

Why is it unique?

• Current tests include RT-PCR, which are highly accurate but require advanced lab infrastructure, and antigen tests that can give results in minutes but have a lower accuracy.
• COVIRAP process is completed within an hour
• The test is conducted in a ultra-low-cost portable unit that can be handled by unskilled operators outside the lab environment and is an alternative to high-end RTPCR machines. It can test samples even on open fields. 
• The same unit can be used for a large number of tests on replacement of the paper cartridge after each test.
• This means that other than COVID-19 testing, many other tests, falling under the category of isothermal nucleic acid-based tests (INAT), can be performed in the same machine
• For instance it can perform tests beyond Covid-19, for influenza, malaria, dengue, Japanese encephalitis, TB etc, under the category of isothermal nucleic acid-based tests.

COVIRAP & FELUDA: 

• FELUDA, named after Satyajit Ray’s fictional detective as an acronym for FNCAS9 Editor-Limited Uniform Detection Assay, is a test developed by the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology. This too detects genes specific to SARS-CoV-2, but uses CRISPR-CAS technology.
• With FELUDA, too, the need for technical expertise is minimal. While the current FELUDA prototype requires a PCR machine for processing, COVIRAP uses its own detection technology, patented by IIT-KGP. 

Advantages of using COVIRAP:

• This innovation has made high-quality and accurate COVID testing affordable for the common people with a testing cost of around Rs 500 which can further be reduced through government intervention. 
• This machine can be developed at a cost of less than Rs 10,000 with minimal infrastructural requirement making the technology affordable to common people. 
• The testing process in this new machine is completed within one hour