Scientists from Samara University as Part of the International Scientific Group Created a Quick Test for Detecting Terminal Illnesses

Specialists from Samara University as part of the international group have learned detecting a life-threatening lung disease with an accuracy of over 90% and in less than an hour, by using a blood test. The results are published in the journal “Diagnostics”.

According to the scientists from Samara University, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) ranks third in the world in terms of mortality. WHO claims that in 2021, the disease killed 3.5 million people. As the University researchers explained, traditional diagnostic methods, such as measuring the volume of inhaled and exhaled air (spirometry), do not always detect the disease at its early stage, which makes it difficult to start treatment in a timely manner.

Scientists from Samara University, as part of the international scientific group, have developed a new approach based on the analysis of spectral parameters of blood using laser technologies and silver nanostructures. This method allows detecting changes in the composition of proteins, lipids and carbohydrates that occur under diseases of the respiratory system.

“It’s similar to how fingerprints help find a criminal, only here we look for “chemical imprints” of diseases. Interacting with blood, the laser beam captures unique changes associated with inflammation and lung damage”, told us Lyudmila Bratchenko, Associate Professor of the Department of Laser and Biotechnical Systems at Samara University.

According to her, applying the new approach makes it possible to diagnose respiratory diseases with an accuracy of over 90%.

“The model demonstrated accuracy of up to 92% in recognizing all respiratory diseases and about 61% in distinguishing between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchial asthma, two diseases that are very similar in symptoms but different in mechanism”, commented Bratchenko.

In spite of similar studies, the advantage of the scientists’ project, according to them, is in using the set of statistical analysis methods and developing the model capable of distinguishing diseases with high accuracy based on spectral blood data.

“The practical value of the method is in its speed (about 30 minutes) and low invasiveness. In future, this can reduce the burden on medical institutions and decrease the number of missed cases, especially in regions with a shortage of specialists”, noted Bratchenko.

During the study, for enhancing Raman spectroscopy signals, silver nanostructures were used, and blood serum spectra were recorded using spectroscopy with a wavelength of 785 nanometers. The authors of the study said that the developed model went through many verification cycles.

At this stage, the scientists are faced with the task of expanding the sample, for the purpose of improving the accuracy of disease detection, as well as integrating spectroscopy with more accurate biochemical analysis aimed at identifying specific biomarkers of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The study was also participated by specialists from Samara State Medical University, Pirogov Samara City Clinical Hospital No. 1, Mechnikov Northwestern State Medical University, and Institute of Photonics and Photonic Technologies (Xi’an, China).

Source: ria.ru