CAtenA – SMART PCR
“Letter for Researchers“
A Quick Look
CAtenA is a user-friendly bioinformatics tool designed to analyze PCR results. It simplifies and automates many manual processes, making it possible to interpret PCR results using sophisticated technology. The key features of CAtenA are briefly outlined below.
1- PCR application files from 18 devices (e.g., Biorad, Roche, Qiagen, AriaMX) can be uploaded directly to the system without manual export.
2- Any PCR kit can be easily integrated into the system.
3- It can be easily integrated with any Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) through web services and edited to meet existing LIMS requirements.
4- The system utilizes artificial intelligence techniques to classify PCR test results into three categories: Negative, Positive, and Repeat.
5- The graphical interface displays the experts responsible for approving the Negative, Positive, and Repeat classifications made by CAtenA. With a single click, the experts can make the final decision.
6- CAtenA offers a platform to access historical PCR results and files.
7- CAtenA* has features similar to popular applications like Biorad CFX96*, Roche LightCycler96* and Qiagen RotorGene* that allow users to analyze results.
CAtenA has been tested in three countries, including Turkey, Italy, and Uzbekistan, with 21 PCR COVID-19 laboratories. As of November 30, 2020, CAtenA has evaluated around 4.5 million PCR test results, and the results were sent to LIMS while the working files are currently stored on CAtenA. During the preliminary evaluation of 4,448,736 PCR test results, CAtenA achieved an accuracy rate of 97.96%, indicating that CAtenA and the expert made the same decision at an extremely high rate. As a SaS service, CAtenA is provided to users without additional costs. CAtenA can evaluate 96 test results in approximately 2.5 minutes and has been successfully used in laboratories in Turkey that conduct up to 12,000 tests per day. Still, it can process more than 1 million test results per day. It is important to note that CAtenA contains no health data besides the well barcode number.