The US Food and Drug Administration has approved for emergency-use a breath analyser that can correctly detect COVID-19 infections and provide results within 3 minutes.

The diagnostic tool, called the InspectIR COVID-19 Breathalyzer, was tested on 2,409 people. It correctly identified 91.2% of the positive samples, and 99.3%, or almost 100%, of the negative ones. A follow-up clinical study on the Omicron variant had similar results, according to the FDA.

InspectIR’s breathalyzer is the size of a carry-on bag. The tests, which are noninvasive, must be performed by a qualified, trained operator. InspectIR Systems, which isn’t publicly listed, said in an explainer video that no biological materials are stored in its device.

InspectIR separates and identifies chemical compounds associated with Covid-19 infections in exhaled breath. The company expects to be able to produce approximately 100 instruments a week; each device can be used to evaluate roughly 160 samples a day, the FDA announcement said.