KOBE: Japanese surgical robot maker Medicaroid Corp. has said it will develop a robot-based system to automate polymerase chain reaction tests for the novel coronavirus.
With the city government of Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, the company aims to put the system to practical use partially by autumn, according to an announcement made Wednesday.
The Kobe-based joint venture of Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. and clinical testing equipment maker Sysmex Corp. said that public-private collaboration in the field is unusual in the world.
In the project, Kawasaki Heavy's industrial robots will be applied to the medical field.
Medicaroid hopes to increase the daily number of samples tested for the virus with the PCR method at a facility managed by Sysmex from the current maximum of 100 to 300-450.
JIJI Press