(NPR) – “So for a long time, we have been trying to make the diagnosis of tuberculosis easier, cheaper, and quicker,” says Alfred Andama, a microbiologist at Makerere University College of Health Sciences in Uganda.

That desire was fulfilled last year when the Chinese company Pluslife announced a new tuberculosis test called the MiniDock MTB. It works by taking a sample of someone’s phlegm or — if the patient is unable to produce phlegm — a mere tongue swab, heating and spinning it down, and then machine scanning it for DNA from the TB bacteria. It’s faster than conventional tests and is portable, allowing health workers to use it in a wider variety of settings. (Read More)