바이오스펙테이터

by Yoonseok Suh

Diagnosis of COVID 19 based on Saliva by Exploiting Digital PCR ‘LOAA’ … Development of Airport Quarantine System is in Progress … “… Targets the Securing of the Domain of Platform-based Diagnosis …”

▲이도영 옵토레인 대표

What will appear in the aspects of airport in the age of coronavirus?

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a company has focused on the quarantine system of airport experiencing unprecedented changes. The system, envisioned by Optolane, a company specialized in the field of precision diagnosis based on technology of semiconductors, enables us to imagine the future of airport environment of inbound/outbound processing of passengers.

President Lee Do-yeong of Optolane introduced the intention of the company, “… “K-Bio”, the diagnostic kit, has built a reputation in the global market during the pandemic of COVID-19…. Furthermore, we are targeting the development of an airport quarantine system to expand the domain of diagnosis requiring the supply of device platforms…”. He emphasized as in the following: “… we have been interested in the development of an airport quarantine system since last March, for which we have continued research and development to get over the closure of airports due to pandemic of COVID-19 or other infectious diseases…”.

Optolane presents “Five Total Solutions” for the development of an airport quarantine system. These five total solutions are as follows: △ Saliva-based Examination △ Automation of Sample Analyses △ Examination by Pooling Samples Exploiting High-Sensitivity Diagnostic Technology △ Direct Examination without RNA Extraction △ Real-time Sharing of Results of Examination Using Communication Unit in Equipment/Platform etc.

President Lee Do-yeong stated, “… results of diagnosis will be confirmed via on-line service contrary to current confirmation of diagnosed data forwarded to the site (basement of airport) after sampling from outbound passengers upon completion of ticketing…”, and forecasted, “… complete enumeration for the diagnosis of inbound passengers before disembarkation could be enabled different from current diagnoses taken upon completion of disembarkation …”. He also added, “… all passengers will be obliged to pay for expenses for the diagnosis of COVID-19 as well as other infectious diseases on departure…”.

These total solutions for the diagnosis of COVID-19 comprise the following. First, the examination for diagnosis is carried out by using the saliva of examinee. Second, the transportation of sample and analysis thereof are fully automated, enabling the diagnosis with less manpower. President Lee emphasized, “… the process requiring higher degree of difficulty for diagnosis was devised to be carried out by a machine …”, “… thus we have elaborated on the automation to enable existing infrastructure to work systematically ...”.

Third, the analysis requires no extraction of RNA. By exploiting high-sensitivity which is the advantage of digital PCR, several specimens can be pooled to complete the analysis for diagnosis. Fourth, results of diagnosis would be available in 50 minutes without extraction of RNA by employing a UTM (Universal Transport Medium) meeting predetermined conditions. LOAA system of Optolane consists of simple steps of mixing saliva with a master mix for PCR and loading of the mixture onto a cartridge. President Lee stated, “… it is such a simple process that even a novice may only require 30 minutes to master the operation …”. Fifth, components for WIFI, GPS, and LAN are preinstalled in the device of LOAA so that results can be transmitted via wireless communication. Thus, passengers and medical staff may access the server in real-time to determine the state of infection of examinees.

President Lee Do-yeong added, “Currently, we are cooperating with Brazilian public agencies for the development of the airport quarantine system…”, “… we have forwarded the equipment of LOAA to Brazil for works to verify its operation.”