Nagpur-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has transferred the know-how of indigenously developed Saline Gargle RT-PCR technique, used for testing COVID-19 samples.
About
It is simple, fast, cost-effective, patient-friendly and comfortable; it also offers instant results and is well-suited for rural and tribal areas, given minimal infrastructure requirements.
The method is non-invasive and so simple that the patient herself can collect the sample.
Method
Collection methods like nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab collection require technical expertise; they are also time-consuming.
In contrast, the Saline Gargle RT-PCR method uses a simple collection tube filled with saline solution.
The patient gargles the solution and rinses it inside the tube.
This sample in the collection tube is taken to the laboratory where it is kept at room temperature, in a special buffer solution prepared by NEERI.
An RNA template is produced when this solution is heated, which is further processed for Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR).
This particular method of collecting and processing the sample enables to save on the otherwise costly infrastructural requirement of RNA extraction.