Shipping containers may soon be converted into automated built-in Portable COVID-19 laboratories

The plan is to use robots that are able to process 2,400 tests a day to power these labs. So that the cost of tests can be kept low, these labs have been designed to open-source materials. They can be managed by a single human operator as they use robots to do the bulk of testing. Each unit will be able to  process up to 92 COVID-19 tests every 42 minutes. The good news is that these units can  be moved about on a truck

Scientists from OpenCell.bio and King’s College London worked with a company called Opentrons Labworks to create the facility.They say it is the first fully functional lab that can be ‘immediately deployed anywhere in the world’ for coronavirus testing. The system uses low-cost liquid handling robots to detect the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in samples.

The system (called CONTAIN) uses a 40ft high-cube shipping container which can quickly be transported anywhere in the world. To run CONTAIN units you only need flat, solid ground and utilities including electricity and water.

Opentrons has already placed more than 250 robots  in labs around the world to do COVID-19 testing. These robots can now be more widely deployed by using containers.

Lead author Kenneth Walker, said:

‘The automation work required was a big step and this is the first time a team has done this with open-source robotics that don’t cost the earth,’

Open Cell said this is a once in a century global crisis with lives and livelihoods around the world severely disrupted.

‘Until a vaccine is developed, regular testing on a massive scale is necessary to allow people to work and live safely,’

Learn more about this from : Ryan Morrison – Mailonline