COVID-19 Real Time PCR Test Sonuçlarının PCR Cihazı ve CAtenA Smart PCR Bioinformatik Programı Üzerinden Değerlendirme Sürelerinin Karşılaştırılması

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, which was caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019, and has had a detrimental impact worldwide. The nucleic acid amplification tests are the recommended method for the diagnosis of COVID-19. CAtenA Smart PCR is an artificial intelligence-based bioinformatics tool that assists with PCR data interpretation and offers conclusion preferences before transaction to the web-based result systems. The aim of this study was to compare the turnaround times between the data analysis on a PCR instrument, including result submission, and the CAtenA Smart PCR-assisted analysis. The specialists assessed 139 PCR data sets, each with 94 samples and two internal controls, that were performed in the COVID-19 PCR Diagnostic Laboratory at Meram State Hospital in Konya between 1 September and 30 November 2021. The data analysis times for the PCR tool (Bio-Rad CFX96 Touch, Singapore) and the CAtenA Smart PCR Bioinformatics Program (Ventura, Ankara, Turkey) were recorded. The mean time duration of the 139 PCR data analyses for the PCR device was 14.05 ± 7.55 and 8.04 ± 3.93 minutes for the CAtenA. The Wilcoxon signed ranks test was used for the statistical analysis. The difference between the turnaround times for the PCR instrument and CAtenA Smart PCR was found to be statistically significant (p = 0.0001). We further divided the study period into two groups: the high-positivity phase and the low-positivity phase. We compared the two phases in order to assess the effect of the case positivity rates on the turnaround times. There was a significant difference between the turnaround times of the two groups (p = 0.0001). The findings showed that the positivity rate has affected the time duration of data analysis on both the PCR instrument and the CAtenA program. As a result, employing artificial intelligence-based CAtenA Smart PCR to interpret PCR data and send transactions to the web-based result systems reduces the time it takes to complete the task and gives the user more convenience.