COVID-19 – UAE develops COVID-19 rapid test technology with laser

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – QuantLase Imaging Lab, a medical research branch of the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange listed on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange, IHC, announced that it has developed new technology to test the COVID-19 on wider mass scale in seconds.

A statement from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Embassy in Jakarta said the technology would strengthen the position of the Middle East country as a center for research and innovation.

Scientists around the world are working on creating a faster testing method for patients suspected of having been infected with the coronavirus, and identifying carriers before transmitting others.

UAE Minister of Health and Prevention Abdul Rahman bin Mohammad bin Nasser Al Owais said the country always follows the development of innovations related to early and rapid test technology of the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus disease).

“The UAE government is interested in initiatives that help the health care system in the UAE. Health officials have been closely monitoring the progress of trials with QuantLase. We are proud to see the technology that will help protect our team better,” the minister remarked.

Technology

Meanwhile, the head of the research team in the laboratory, Dr. Pramod Kumar, explained, the equipment that uses CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) detectors — used to make images in digital cameras, digital video cameras and digital CCTV cameras — helps the screening process with greater results in seconds.

He further explained, the laser-based DPI (Diffractive Phase Interferometry) technique based on optical phase modulation is able to give a sign of infection within a few seconds.

“Moreover, this tool is easy to use, non-invasive and low cost. This device is suitable for use in hospitals and public places such as theaters and shopping centers with little training. This tool can also be used for internal testing and monitoring. We believe it will be a game-changer in dealing with the spread of coronavirus, “added Kumar.

Regarding the important role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the diagnostic system, Dr. Kumar said the sophisticated AI image analysis model successfully predicted the results of each image in terms of accuracy, speed, and scale.

“This is very important in large-scale testing programs, where a large number of images need to be analysed accurately and efficiently. This laboratory uses G42, a leading AI and Cloud Computing company to further enhance laser programs,” he explained.

“With the first 1,000 trials, we refined our experiment and then applied it to the rest of the experiment. The process went through several stages, and the latest is being tested on a large scale, in line with current testing procedures,” Dr. Kumar said.

Since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic in March 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO), scientists have continued to develop technologies that will not only reduce diagnosis time, but also allow doctors to concentrate on patients based on needs.

At present it takes several hours to diagnose COVID-19 cases.

According to Dr. Kumar, QuantLase Imaging Lab plans to launch a product on the market within a few months.

“As far as our DPI technique is able to detect viruses once blood cells are infected, our goal is to achieve a maximum level of accuracy,” he said.

Achieving a scientific breakthrough focused on human well-being is one of the pillars of the National Strategy for Advanced Innovation announced by the UAE government in February 2018.

This new strategy also calls for collaboration with leading international institutions and companies that specialize in the field of innovation.

Reporting by Indonesia Window