Hyderabad: DRDO develops kiosk for COVID sample collection

Hyderabad: Defence Research &Development Laboratory (DRDL) has added another product to the portfolio of DRDO products to combat Covid-19 by developing 'COVSACK – COVID Sample Collection Kiosk.' The unit has been developed by DRDL, in consultation with the doctors of ESIC, Hyderabad.

COVSACK is a kiosk for use by health care workers for taking COVID-19 samples from suspected infected patients. Patient under test walks into the kiosk and a nasal or oral swab is taken by health care professional from outside through the built-in gloves. The kiosk is automatically disinfected without the need for human involvement, making the process free of infection spread. The shielding screen of kiosk cabin protects the health care worker from the aerosols/droplet transmission while taking the sample. This reduces the requirements of PPE change by health care workers. After the patient leaves the kiosk, four nozzle sprayers mounted in the kiosk cabin disinfect the empty chamber by spraying disinfectant mist for a period of 70 seconds. It is further flushed with water & UV light disinfection.

The system is ready for next use in less than 2 minutes. Voice command can be given through two-way communication system integrated with the COVSACK. It is possible to configure COVSACK to be used either from inside or outside asrequired by the medical professionals. The COVSACK costs nearly Rs. 1 Lakh and the identified industry based at Belgaum can support 10 units a day. DRDO has designed and developed two units and handed them over to ESIC Hospital, Hyderabad, after successful testing.