THOOTHUKUDI
The Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital, which has already commissioned RT PCR (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction) facility to test the samples drawn from suspected COVID -19 patients, has added one more facility – Automated RNA Extraction Machine, costing about ₹ 22 lakh.
Minister for Information ‘Kadambur’ C. Raju formally inaugurated the machine in the presence of Collector Sandeep Nanduri, Dean, Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital Revathi Balan, Resident Medical Officer Silas Jayamani and senior doctors on Friday.
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The machine plays a crucial first stage of the testing process in PCR tests. At present, reagents have to be added manually in the manual method of testing, which consumes more time to give the results. The machine analyses the samples with minimal human intervention that reduces the testing duration drastically and gives the results in just three hours instead of the six hours taken earlier in the manual method of analysis. In other words, the hospital can analyse more number of samples now.