Hi Technologies is a Brazil-based health-tech company whose medical devices and systems have been in use in over 110 hospitals in 22 Brazilian states, and medical practices and institutions in five countries, since the startup was founded in 2004. Its most recent contribution to the world of medicine is a quick test for COVID-19 that produces results in 15 minutes.
The company – which is 60% owned by Positivo Tecnologia, one of Brazil’s most significant technology manufacturers – says it is mass-producing the rapid coronavirus test. All of its 130 employees are dedicated to the task of getting them made and delivered. The estimated date range of completion and shipment to medical facilities is the second week of April.
Priority locations that will receive the first batch of tests will be the state of São Paulo – because that’s where most of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country are – and Curitiba, where the company is based, in the southern state of Paraná.
The testing is done with a portable device, called Hilab, which is capable of instantly detecting infectious diseases with only a few drops of blood from patients’ fingertips. The non-invasive blood test uses immunochromatography and colorimetry methodologies.
Hi Technologies developed Hiliab after Positivo Tecnologia bought into the company in 2016. They partnered with Microsoft and Intel to include advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT), which enabled the device to process a variety of exams in a few minutes. Now that it can be used as a COVID-19 test device, countries around the world will be better equipped to fight the global pandemic.
