Institute of Experimental Biology of Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) is working on the Sonar project, i.e. a group testing method for coronavirus.

The method developed by the Polish Academy of Sciences may cover all patients and medics of a given hospital ward. It will also help social welfare homes in the diagnosis of residents and staff.

Performing several instead of several hundred tests will allow to known faster whether there is a person infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in a given group.

The Sonar project combines 3 elements: group testing, mathematical modeling, and fast and extremely sensitive tests for detecting viral particles in patient samples.

PAN emphasizes, that “high-throughput strategy of 100,000 markings per day – will be crucial for effective fight against a pandemic in Poland. The constant control of infection levels and mass diagnostics are probably the best tactic in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The project was financed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.