New diagnostic software improves analysis of kidney diseases

The team, consisting of physicians and mathematicians, has experimentally developed a method with which the origin of protein excretion in urine can be determined more precisely. " This is of great importance for therapy and prognosis and could well differ in the many different forms of kidney disease,” says Dr. Alexander Böhner, first author of the study and assistant physician at the UKB.

The identification of individual glomeruli was made possible by the visualization of fluorescent protein in the channels. "This was previously an impossible task, because the human kidney consists of millions of glomeruli with tubules that wrap around each other in a complex three-dimensional manner," explains Prof. Christian Kurts, who used new methods to make this complex three-dimensional structure of the kidney visible.

The combination of an image enhancement algorithm with a geometric navigation algorithm has enabled the researchers to determine the origin of the protein from a three-dimensional image of the transparent kidney. Prof. Alexander Effland explains: "’Modeling’ at the University of Bonn. "The result was a map that shows each glomerulus and its damage in a different color.”

The use of this technique has a direct impact on the diagnosis and treatment of kidney disease. The "map" of kidney damage provides a detailed analysis that can be crucial for biopsy and further investigations.

In addition to the application to kidney disease, there is potential to extend the method to other modular organs. The research was supported by major institutions such as the German Research Foundation, including the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2 and the Hausdorff Center for Mathematics at the University of Bonn.

MEDICA-tradefair.com; Source: University Hospital Bonn