Recognizing the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has affected everyone’s life, OZ Optics has released a line of products to detect these and similar viruses in individuals.
Our flagship product is a Covid-19 detection system, designed to detect fluorescence and color changes from dyes that activate in the presence of specific viral DNA or RNA. The system includes optical sources, filters, detectors and temperature control systems to heat samples to the temperatures needed for Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) reactions, Polymerase Chain Reactions (PCR) or similar reactions, and then launch light through samples to detect fluorescence from the viral DNA/RNA. Our patent pending optics improve the signal to noise ratio, allowing us in combination with special Covid-19 LAMP reagent kits (available from OZ Optics), to detect Covid-19 DNA from sample swabs in less than 30 minutes, often within just a few minutes. Initial systems test individual samples, but systems for testing 10 samples and 96 samples simultaneously are in development. This will enable mass testing at the rates needed to provide mass testing of the general population. The system can be adapted to detect other viruses and bacteria by simply changing the reagent kit. The standard system is optimized for fluorescence at green wavelengths, but versions to detect fluorescence at other wavelengths can be provided. Versions with built-in spectrometers are also available to analyze color changes. The system is available at a fraction of the cost of traditional PCR test systems currently in use.
“With this system we intend to address the world need for inexpensive testing for Covid-19, which has turned our world upside down”, says CEO Ömür Sezerman. “To help defeat this terrible virus, OZ Optics intends to sell these systems at cost for the first year, so that as many systems as possible can be used by all. We will also donate initial units to governments, hospitals and research labs to perform independent test studies and provide feedback to OZ so we can further improve our system.”
In addition to these products, OZ Optics manufactures many products that can be used by research and medical labs to perform fundamental research of Covid-19 and other pathogens. These include the following:
- A visible/near-infrared spectrometer, which can be used to detect the spectrum from fluorescence dyes and from microbes, animals or plants.
- U-bracket assemblies designed to work with laboratory cuvettes for spectral analysis of absorption, emission or scattering of light from samples.
- A variety of fiber optic light sources using either laser or LEDs, to either generate fluorescence or measure absorption.
- Red/Green/Blue (RGB) sources, to allow one to excite multiple wavelengths for fluorescence microscopy.
For complete details visit www.ozoptics.com. Let’s all do our share to overcome Covid-19.