The research team of Harbin Institute of Technology in Harbin city, in China’s northernmost Heilongjiang province, is conducting research and development of a novel coronavirus nucleic acid integrated automatic detection instrument, according to HIT officials.
 
The research is being led by Tan Jiubin, professor of HIT and a leader in the discipline of domestic precision instruments.
 
HIT officials said that compared with existing products at home and abroad, the principles and methods of this instrument are more advanced and the instrument is faster and more accurate than others.
 
The instrument can detect 96 samples simultaneously in two hours, with an average time taken of less than one and a half minutes for each sample. HIT officials said that it is the best and the fastest in its class.
 
So far, the principle prototype of the instrument and the high-sensitivity kit for three gene targets have been completed and standard principles, pseudoviruses and a small number of clinical samples have been used to verify the principle and the experiment.
 
The team will make arrangements with local hospitals as soon as possible to carry out clinical trials and qualify for medical approval.