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Singapore developing electronic chip capable of detecting SARS
Singapore, Oct 05: Scientists at the genome institute of Singapore are developing an electronic chip capable of detecting almost immediately if a patient has Sars, flu or other respiratory illnesses, The Sunday Times reported.
Singapore, Oct 05: Scientists at the genome institute of Singapore are developing an electronic chip capable of detecting almost immediately if a patient has Sars, flu or other respiratory illnesses, The Sunday Times reported.
"Patients who have flu, dengue fever or SARS all
exhibit similar symptoms in the early stages of infection,"
the Institute's Deputy Director Professor Ren Ee Chee was
quoted as saying in the report.
"The chip will be able to test for all this at once, identify if it's one or the other and doctors will have a clear picture from the start," he said. The size of a 50 cent Singapore coin, the chip can detect the respiratory illness of a patient from a sample of sputum or nasal fluids that it is dropped on it.
Ren said the state-funded institute was working with a major US medical device company to test the chip soon. He declined to name the American partner.
He said the chip could be launched as early as January. The flu-like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic began late last year and was declared under control worldwide in July by the world health organization after infecting more than 8,000 people and leaving nearly 800 dead in 32 countries.
Most of the fatalities and infections were in East Asia.
Many experts fear the SARS virus could make a comeback during the winter period in the Northern Hemisphere, as scientists continue to search for a cure and vaccine for the disease.
Bureau Report
"The chip will be able to test for all this at once, identify if it's one or the other and doctors will have a clear picture from the start," he said. The size of a 50 cent Singapore coin, the chip can detect the respiratory illness of a patient from a sample of sputum or nasal fluids that it is dropped on it.
Ren said the state-funded institute was working with a major US medical device company to test the chip soon. He declined to name the American partner.
He said the chip could be launched as early as January. The flu-like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic began late last year and was declared under control worldwide in July by the world health organization after infecting more than 8,000 people and leaving nearly 800 dead in 32 countries.
Most of the fatalities and infections were in East Asia.
Many experts fear the SARS virus could make a comeback during the winter period in the Northern Hemisphere, as scientists continue to search for a cure and vaccine for the disease.
Bureau Report