A staff member from Ningbo Inarray Biomedical Instrument Co Ltd holds the newly developed hand-held device featuring a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) system, which is capable of completing a nucleic acid test for the novel coronavirus within 40 minutes. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

A hand-held device featuring a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) system developed by Ningbo Inarray Biomedical Instrument Co Ltd recently passed the acceptance by the General Administration of Customs.

The system, first of its kind in the nation, can complete a nucleic acid test for the novel coronavirus within 40 minutes and is expected to enter mass production by the end of October.

The portable device is also paired with a microfluidic chip kit designed for on-site quarantine.

"Traditional novel coronavirus tests have to be done in a laboratory. With the new detection device and kit, staff can quickly complete virus detection at the quarantine site," said Zhang Lei, chief executive officer of Ningbo Inarray Biomedical Instrument Co Ltd. 

In addition to the novel coronavirus, the device can detect 34 other viruses, according to Zhang, adding that the company will complete registration for a medical device certificate so that it can be put into clinical application as soon as possible. 

Currently, six such device samples have been launched by the company. By the end of this year, the company's production base in Cixi, a city administered by Ningbo, will be able to produce 240 devices and more than 60,000 testing chips every month. The first batch of products will be used in domestic ports for quarantine.