Quang, popularly known as an IT expert and a mobile phone manufacturer, made the statement at an event on “How AI, Blockchain contributed to the fight against the epidemic".

The BKAV leader said that his company was developing technology to help find people infected with Covid-19 through testing with a sodium chloride 0.9% solution.

Explaining the method, Quang said that participants gargle with salt water. The solution is then put into a test tube and placed in a testing device.

For other testing methods, the time to return results takes half an hour to several hours. But with this method, it only takes 10 seconds to produce results, Quang said.

Bkav CEO Nguyen Tu Quang. Photo: Trong Dat

Bkav uses a frequency band of light to expose the test tube containing the patient's saline solution, which is collected by a sensor.

Bkav's artificial intelligence technology measures how much frequency is absorbed. Different frequencies of absorption produce different types of disease, in this case Covid-19.

Quang said: "The naked eye can't recognize the difference of the absorption frequencies. We have to train the AI to know which is the specimen of the Covid patient and which is the sample of those who are not infected with Covid-19."

According to Quang, Bkav's method of testing for Covid-19 with saline mouthwash solution will give faster results than conventional methods.

The founder of BKAV said that compared to the method of testing for Covid-19 by breathing, the salt water test technology is simpler, and testing units are much cheaper.

The method was first tested by BKAV in late 2020 at the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases. "Initial results were recorded as positive with a recognition rate of over 90%," Quang said.

He said his company is the second firm in the world to develop saline solution testing technology. A company in Israel has also developed this technology.

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