Custom optical systems to support rapid point-of-care testing for COVID-19

Nov. 13, 2020

Gray Optics' optical systems support rapid COVID-19 testing based on molecular, antigen, or antibody detection, and the company has doubled its staff to meet aggressive product development schedules.

COVID-19 point-of-care tests enable rapid detection and diagnosis outside hospitals or physicians’ offices, providing results within minutes. As demand for point-of-care testing has surged due to the COVID-19 pandemic, top manufacturers contacted advanced bioimaging technology and optical system developer Gray Optics (Portland, ME) to design custom optical systems that support rapid testing based on molecular, antigen, or antibody detection. To address the increased demand, the company has doubled its staff to meet aggressive product development schedules.

Many rapid tests rely on fluorescence detection using a lens precisely aligned to a CMOS image sensor. Here, the field-of-view, depth-of-field, and lens f-number are crucial to achieving the required performance. The specification and design of the fluorescence excitation and emission filters are also key to the device performance. A common problem in fluorescence detection is an angular mismatch, leading to a bleedthrough of light, which degrades the system’s signal-to-noise ratio. Recognizing these challenges, the Gray Optics team designed the diagnostic device’s precision optical components for manufacturing at scale.

Gray Optics is already planning for significant growth in staff and facility space in 2021 to advance imaging technologies that build on their core capabilities: product development for biomedical and industrial applications through rapid prototyping, optical engineering, precision optical assembly and alignment, and custom test development.

For more information, please visit grayoptics.com.

Source: Gray Optics press release via PRWeb – November 13, 2020