Korea Institute of Optical Technology Develops 'Smart Urine Test' Technology for Easy Home Use

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] The Korea Photonics Technology Institute (Director Shin Yong-jin) announced on the 28th that it has succeeded in developing a 'Smart Urine Test' technology that measures the sodium and potassium (Na/K) content and ratio by measuring the intensity of light emitted when a reagent is dropped into urine, making it convenient to use.

Patients suffering from hypertension, diabetes, kidney disease, and cardiovascular disease caused by excessive sodium intake need to follow a low-sodium diet, making it very important to manage the amount and ratio of sodium/potassium in the body on a regular basis.

The urine sodium/potassium testing equipment currently used mainly in medical institutions are mostly expensive imported products, which not only have high testing costs but also involve complicated testing processes, making it difficult for the general public to use them frequently.

The technology developed by Dr. Kim Ki-hyun’s team at the Photomedical Bio Research Center of the Korea Photonics Technology Institute uses aptamers that selectively react to sodium and potassium within a microfluidic chip. It measures the intensity of extremely faint light at the femto watt level generated by dropping a small amount of reagent into urine, accurately quantifying and diagnosing the sodium/potassium content and ratio.

Moreover, it is convenient for the general public to use without the complicated urine pretreatment process, and by applying artificial intelligence signal processing technology, the measurement results can be known within minutes.

This newly developed technology is expected to significantly improve the quality of life for patients who need to continuously manage sodium levels regularly, such as those with hypertension and chronic kidney disease, as well as replace imported urine testing equipment that has been relied upon until now.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.