Recently, Truenat test was in the news in the context of Nipah virus testing. Truenat for Nipah virus testing was granted an emergency use authorisation (EAU) by the Indian regulator in September 2021 days after the third Nipah outbreak in Kerala.
- TrueNat was originally developed to detect Tuberculosis (TB) in one hour.
- Both TrueNat Xpert MTB and TrueNat Xpert MTB Plus were used to detect TB. It is a portable, chip-based and battery-operated machine developed by a Goa-based company.
- The Indian Council of Medical Research has also approved the use of TrueNat devices for conducting covid-19 tests.
- Moreover, being portable, the devices can be carried to remote places to quickly screen covid 19.
