A hospital in France is testing a new breathalyser machine which can tell doctors whether a patient has Covid-19 within seconds.
Hôpital de la Croix-Rousse in Lyon is entering its second trial phase of a machine that requires people breathe into a tube.
“The machine will register the molecules in the exhaled air and then detects the traces of the sickness,” Christian George, director of research at the National Centre of Scientific Research at the hospital, told Reuters .
“It’s the same principle as a classic breathalyser test.”
Dozens of people have tried the machine, which isn’t invasive and provides quick results, unlike the uncomfortable standard polymerase chain reaction tests which usually require swab samples from the back of the nose and throat area.
Jean-Christophe Richard, head of intensive care at the hospital, said the hospital hoped to have the machine fully operational by the end of the year.
“This type of quick test means we will have the results straight away and can then move the patient to the right area of the hospital,” he said.
“As we now have a few efficient treatments, the quicker we can diagnose the quicker we can treat them.”
But, there are concerns the machine may be too expensive for widespread use in hospitals.
Bruno Lina, an independent virus expert, said if the first machines worked, second and third generation machines could be developed, which would be cheaper.
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