Frisco’s InspectIR has developed the first breath test for COVID-19, which has been issued emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 

For months before authorized use, the company had been working with the FDA to refine and finish the device for testing. 

The test requires the individual to blow into a straw that is attached to an outside hole, prompting results in less than three minutes. 

According to the FDA, the device, PNY-1000, had a 91% accuracy in detecting positive test results and was 99% accurate at discerning negative cases. 

“[The] authorization is yet another example of the rapid innovation occurring with diagnostic tests for COVID-19,” director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health Jeff Shuren said in a statement. “The FDA continues to support the development of novel COVID-19 tests with the goal of advancing technologies that can help address the current pandemic and better position the U.S for the next public health emergency.”

Even as testing and COVID-19 cases decline, Dallas County public Health Director Dr. Phil Huang believes that the new innovation can be an advantageous tool by providing faster test results for individuals. 

“Our hospital numbers are still looking good,” Huang said. “We’re certainly interested in anything that can provide more rapid information, more supplemental information.”

With the new COVID-19 breathalyzer, the small company has big goals for the use of the innovation at concerts, airports, and even schools.

“We all want to feel safe wherever we are,” InspectIR President John Redmond said in a statement to television station WFAA.  

Not only does the company have goals for the use of the COVID-19 breathing test, but they also have big aspirations for the future of diseases.

“We’ll be able to quickly tell people what they’re currently suffering from, and hopefully create that peace of mind,” Redmond said. “We really look forward to helping more [people], and looking at other upper respiratory infections.”