Asan Medical Center and DGIST Develop Ultra Rapid Extracellular Vesicle Molecular Diagnostic Platform

“Expected to Enable Rapid Diagnosis for Emergency Patients and Precision Medicine for a Wide Range of Vascular Diseases”

▲ The study was selected as a cover article for the latest issue of Small, a leading international journal in nanoscience.

A Korean research team has developed an ultra-rapid diagnostic platform capable of analyzing molecular signals associated with vascular diseases in approximately 10 minutes using just a drop of blood plasma.

The platform can directly analyze microRNA, a key disease related biomarker in the blood, without complex pretreatment procedures. It is expected to have broad applications in the rapid diagnosis of emergency patients and precision medicine for vascular diseases.

A joint research team led by Professor Junyeop Lee of the Department of Ophthalmology at Asan Medical Center and Professor Seonki Hong of the Department of Physics and Chemistry at Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) recently announced the development of SAFE (Sonication Assisted Liposome Fusion with Extracellular Vesicles), a platform that can directly detect microRNA in approximately 10 minutes without separately isolating extracellular vesicles from plasma or extracting microRNA.

The findings were published in the latest issue of Small (impact factor: 11.8), a leading international journal in nanoscience and biomaterials. In recognition of the study’s scientific excellence, it was also selected as a cover article.

Extracellular vesicles are tiny particles, typically tens to hundreds of nanometers in size, secreted by cells. They contain disease related proteins, nucleic acids and microRNAs (miRNAs), making them increasingly recognized as key biomarkers for next generation liquid biopsy.

However, conventional analysis requires complex procedures to isolate extracellular vesicles and extract RNA, resulting in lengthy processing times and the need for specialized equipment.

To address these limitations, the research team developed a technology that rapidly fuses liposomes with extracellular vesicles using ultrasound. By delivering molecular beacons into extracellular vesicles, the platform directly detects microRNAs without a separate RNA extraction step, completing the analysis in approximately 10 minutes.

To further assess its clinical applicability, the team analyzed plasma samples from 20 patients with cardiovascular disease and 15 healthy individuals. SAFE successfully detected miR-133a and miR-208a, representative microRNAs associated with myocardial injury, with a high diagnostic accuracy of approximately 91.4% for each marker.

The platform is expected to enable rapid screening for vascular diseases in clinical settings such as emergency departments, where timely decision-making is critical. Beyond cardiovascular diseases, the technology also holds potential for expansion into extracellular vesicle based molecular diagnostics for a wide range of conditions, including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and ophthalmic disorders.

Professor Junyeop Lee of the Department of Ophthalmology at Asan Medical Center said, “Our research team has consistently demonstrated that analyzing microRNAs within extracellular vesicles in various retinal vascular diseases, including age related macular degeneration, is important for understanding disease mechanisms and predicting treatment responses.”

“Through this study, we have finally developed a technology that can perform what was once a complex extracellular vesicle analysis in just 10 minutes. We expect the SAFE platform to enable rapid and accurate diagnosis of diseases in actual clinical settings and provide meaningful support for treatment decision making in the future.”

Professor Seonki Hong of the Department of Physics and Chemistry at DGIST said, “The SAFE platform is a simple molecular diagnostic technology that can directly analyze microRNAs in plasma without isolating extracellular vesicles or extracting RNA. We will expand clinical validation across various diseases and further develop the platform into a next generation diagnostic technology that can be applied in clinical settings.”

This study was supported by the Leading Research Center Program (Magnetic Based Life Care Research Center) and the Individual Basic Research Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea under the Ministry of Science and ICT; the DGIST Research and Development Program; and the Health Technology R&D Project and Global Medical Scientist Training Program of the Korea Health Industry Development Institute under the Ministry of Health and Welfare.