TOKYO (JAPAN) – The Japanese health minister on Tuesday witnessed the demonstration of a prototype automated coronavirus testing machine featuring a robotic arm that takes samples from a person’s nose and delivers results in 80 minutes.
Built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries Inc, the robot system can be placed in a shipping container and set up at stadiums, theme parks and other venues where people gather, said the firm.
“Looking at the global trend, we need to increase the number of people receiving tests, and the demand for preventive testing is rising,” Health Minister Norihisa Tamura said during the event.
The government led by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has come under fire for the paucity of testing and the administration is under pressure to demonstrate that it has the pandemic under control with less than 200 days left for the Tokyo Games.
Tamura said the robot system can preserve medical manpower and ensure accuracy.
The human-controlled robotic arms collect samples from individuals and perform polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. The system is lodged in mobile, 40-foot shipping containers and can process up to 2,000 samples every 16 hours.