The new microfluidic biochip detection device can detect the novel Coronavirus in just 40 minutes from sampling to testing. (Photo credit: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)

Researchers of a Hong Kong university have invented a fast portable detection device for novel coronavirus that reduces the whole procedure from sampling to testing to merely 40 minutes.

With the latest microfluidic chip technology, the device heats up testing samples by 30 degrees centigrade per second, improving significantly from the current four to five degrees centigrade per second, according to a press release issued Thursday from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

The speed of temperature change is the key that determines the efficiency of the detection, the faster the temperature rises, the shorter a device can come up with the test result, the researchers said.

Prof. Wen (C) and Dr. Gao (R) introduce the theories behind their novel detection device in their research base at Shenzhen. (Photo credit: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)

The invention was jointly made by a research team of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology led by Prof. Wen Weijia and a Shenzhen-based biotechnology startup company, co-founded by Wen and his doctoral graduate Gao Yibo.

The researchers came up with the testing kit within a week after obtaining the new coronavirus sequence on January 20.

The equipment set has been in use by disease control and prevention centers in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province, and two more sets were being delivered to the center of central China's Hubei province.

The invention has obtained international CE certification (EU standard).