Moroccan Scientists Develop 20-Second Covid Test Using AI and Infrared Technology

The MAScIR press release states that it is a portable and connected process based on near-infrared spectroscopy (FT-NIR) technology, coupled with embedded artificial intelligence models, which allows to screen for the absence of Covid-19 in a pharyngeal sample in less than 20 seconds.

The same source indicates that the device has been tested at the laboratory level with the support of the Military Hospital of Rabat and the Pasteur Institute of Casablanca. Specifying that the center filed a patent in September 2020 and then submitted the device for validation to the Medical Research and Analysis Laboratory of the Royal Gendarmerie (LRAM) which evaluated its performance in accordance with the NF EN ISO 15189: 2012 standard.

The press release states that a battery of tests and evaluations have been carried out in the appropriate centers and laboratories for rapid validation. Because for MAScIR, this device has been developed with a view to large-scale screening to help increase the overall testing capacity and support the gradual resumption of economic activity.

MAScIR is a research center under Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, with the status of a foundation, whose purpose is to promote and develop in Morocco research and development centers responding to the country’s needs in advanced technologies, particularly in the medical biology sector.