Rapid coronavirus test developed by Chicago-based Surgisphere

Rapid coronavirus test : Chicago-based Surgisphere Corporation claims to have launched a rapid diagnostic tool for novel coronavirus.

The healthcare data analytics and medical education company claims to have tapped into its global research network and advanced machine learning to create an intelligent tool that uses only three common laboratory tests to identify patients who are suspected to have novel coronavirus infection.

Surgisphere said that its rapid coronavirus test has a sensitivity of 93.7% and specificity of 99.9%, which makes it highly accurate while helping in curbing the transmission of the virus by identifying and isolating impacted patients sooner, mobilizing appropriate public health resources, and removing the delays caused by current testing.

Dr. Sapan Desai – President and CEO of Surgisphere, commenting on the rapid coronavirus test, said: “Surgisphere exists to help make the world a better place. This tool is the first effective weapon in the fight against this global pandemic. Early diagnosis means faster treatment, which means more lives saved.”

Rapid coronavirus test developed by Chicago-based Surgisphere. Image courtesy of Gerd Altmann from Pixabay.

Surgisphere said that it used QuartzClinical, its cloud-based healthcare data analytics platform, to identify patients diagnosed with novel coronavirus in five countries. The healthcare data analytics company is said to have created a machine learning model using decision tree analysis with clinical and lab data on 430 patients to develop the COVID-19 diagnosis decision support tool.

Surgisphere said that it is looking for physicians and healthcare systems to collaboratively work by sharing data to grow the sample size of patients infected with novel coronavirus as higher quality data would result in a more accurate model, thereby leading to early diagnosis and treatment.

The healthcare data analytics company said that participation in the global research network funded by it is free for both physicians and healthcare systems.