Context: Recently, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has approved the use of diagnostic machines used for testing drug-resistant tuberculosis for conducting coronavirus tests.
Background 

• The ICMR has validated TruenatTM beta CoV test on TruelabTM workstation and has recommended it as a screening test. The TrueNat machines are used to test drug-resistant Tuberculosis (TB).

Key Points

• ICMR said throat/nasal swabs will be collected in the viral transport medium (VTM) with virus lysis buffer provided along with the kit. 
• Earlier studies have shown that virus lysis buffer neutralizes Nipah and H1N1 viruses. The results of stability of viral RNA after neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 by virus lysis buffer are awaited . 
• Till such time, Truenat beta CoV test should only be performed with all biosafety precautions in BSL-2 or BSL-3 setups at laboratories.
• Its battery-operated kits are the size of a telephone and can be taken out into the field to test as many as 15 individuals a day.
• They range between Rs. 6.5 lakh and Rs. 12 lakh and have received both government and ICMR approval. 
• The testing kits uses Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technology, which uses a swab from the throat to diagnose diseases,  more accurate method when it comes to diagnosis.

About Truenat

• Truenat is a small machine that is battery operated and requires minimal training. It can also be easily used in a smaller setting.
• The sample of the throat and the nasal swab is collected by the trained technicians wearing personal protective equipment,
• The machine can easily give the result between 30-60 minutes.
• The machine can run up to 32-48 samples of multiple diseases such as COVID-19, HIV, and TB in a four-way.
• Out of the available 800 machines, 150-200 are two-way and can easily handle 16-24 samples.