Pakistani Students Develop a Kit to Identify COVID Patients in 20 Seconds [Update]

Update: Latest study has shown that there is no authentic way of identifying coronavirus without taking a blood sample as a big percentage of virus carriers do not show any symptoms at all, rendering this method as ineffective.


Two Pakistani students have developed a device that can diagnose coronavirus through AI within 20 seconds.

Mohammad Aleem and Rahul Raj, students at Gulam Ishaq Khan Institute (GIKI), are the masterminds behind this invention.

The students say that the shortage of testing kits and long waiting time after the test motivated them to turn to technology amid growing coronavirus cases across the world.

A timely diagnosis would allow doctors to initiate the isolation and treatment process of a COVID-19 patient instantly, reducing the risk of cross-infection to a great extent.

How the Device Works

The AI-powered device developed by GIKI students uses computed tomography (CT) scan of lungs to detect COVID-19.

The device can perform analysis on CT scans and tell whether a patient has been infected with coronavirus in just 20 seconds with 92% accuracy.

Besides speed and accuracy, the device can also identify the exact location, impact, and severity of the damage inflicted on the lungs due to coronavirus.

Requesting Funds From The Government

The AI-powered device depends on CT scans in order to diagnose the disease. A CT scan costs somewhere between Rs. 5,000 to 10,000 in Pakistan. The cost of a CT scan is the biggest impediment to the mass production of the AI-powered device.

Moreover, the more data the AI-based machine processes, the more accurate it will become with time.

The students have requested the government to provide them adequate resources so they can move towards the mass-production of the device.


  • Honorable Rahul Raj, Mohammad Alim Compliments of the achievements. Please keep up with your research and refinement of the product. I would like to support you for the CopyRight, and Patent of the product in Pakistan. Best wishes

  • Absolutely ridiculous idea. it can give results in 20 sec but based upon CT scans which take hours to complete and thousands of rupees in expenses. Moreover the cost of CT scan machines is much higher and we don’t even have enough.
    Hopefully some sense prevails and we don’t go for cheap attention grabbing tactics.

  • Please stop posting this nonsense!
    CT scan is not for everyone and it’s dangerous as one CT equals radiations to 500 plus x rays. And CT scan uses contrast and it can cause kidney failure plus one CT costs more than doing a simple PCR for Covid 19

    • Thank you! Idk why people are congratulating like this is some earth-shattering invention. This test is already more expensive than regular Covid tests. It’s also not 100% accurate due to the final decision reliant on an AI that needs more data.

      Add to all that the radiation and contrast and you have a recipe for disaster. So what if the test is quick? If it can’t diagnose Covid-19 with 100% accuracy then it’s useless. If it makes an error on even one patient who has Corona, that patient can potentially spread the virus to the whole population.

    • Your comments are appreciable. Since it was honored by the ProPk, to the authenticity of the content, from an academic institute. Seems like a beta trail. The publication should clarify?

  • Salute for a really great work for a useful and productive object. Keep it up the whole nation is thankful for this.

  • how is this a good idea. whether a person need CT scan for corona detection. CT scan cost more than a PCR and take much time to complete and give the result. so plz dont demand for support from government for such a baseless technique.


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