CHENGDU -- A Chinese university has developed a COVID-19 test kit the size of a lighter that allows people to test themselves at home for virus infection using nose swab samples, with results in 30 minutes.

Once put on the market, the price of the portable nucleic acid detection box can be controlled within 100 yuan ($15.8), according to the developer West China Hospital affiliated to the Sichuan University in Southwest China's Sichuan province.

Sponsored by the provincial science and technology department, Professor Hu Wenchuang with the hospital led a team to use microfluidic chip technology to develop the test kit that automatically completes the process currently made by instruments and reagents for nucleic acid detection.

Hu said compared with similar products widely used for home self-test screening in other countries, the new test kit has a higher detection sensitivity and a price advantage.

The scientific fruit is expected to be put into commercial production within this year, according to the hospital.