Optimizing infection diagnostics with AI, masks and antibody tests

Due to the increasing global challenges within infection diagnostics, it is becoming ever more important to develop new methods and technologies. Antibiotic resistance, changing disease patterns and new types of infections underline the importance of specific medical technology solutions.

New approaches can help to diagnose infectious diseases more quickly and precisely. These solutions represent more precise and efficient procedures that open up new perspectives for global healthcare.

The Leibniz HKI's modular robotics platform optimizes antibiotics research by automating and thus accelerating time-consuming laboratory processes. It enables the precise execution of experiments that would be too complex for manual processing, such as the combination of active ingredients. "The number of pipetting steps is so high that humans reach their limits in terms of their susceptibility to errors and also physically. Robots can carry out these steps over days with the highest precision," explains Prof. Pierre Stallforth, Head of the Paleobiotechnology Department at Leibniz HKI. The platform relieves the research team and creates space for creative questions, which makes the development of new antibiotics more efficient; decisively advances infection diagnostics.

Another example of the use of innovative solutions in infection diagnostics is the modified FFP2 mask for diagnosing tuberculosis in children. As conventional diagnostic methods often fail in children because, unlike adults, they do not produce sputum, this method offers a promising alternative. The masks filter the patient's breath and, if necessary, collect genetic material from the tuberculosis pathogens.

In a clinical study conducted by the Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Lung Center, it was shown that the masks, in combination with molecular biological analysis methods, have the potential to enable a less invasive and more precise diagnosis. As no pathogen DNA could be detected in the tests in children, the technology provides valuable evidence that children may not produce infectious aerosols. The method of collecting genetic material using masks works and is an important step towards developing new, less invasive diagnostic methods for infectious diseases.

Another example of progress in infection diagnostics is the combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and CRISPR technology for virus detection. This method makes it possible to identify viruses such as hepatitis C or COVID-19 quickly and accurately. "By using AI, we have developed a platform that enables the detection of any pathogen and any genomic sequence variation," explains Prof. Piyush Jain, Shah Rising Star Professor at the University of Florida.

This technology has the potential to improve viral diagnostics by combining rapid results and high accuracy. In the long term, it could even be further developed so that people can perform viral tests beyond a nasal swab for COVID-19 in the comfort of their own homes. With its wide range of applications, the technology represents an important step towards more efficient and accessible diagnostics of infectious diseases.

In addition to digital solutions, biochemical approaches are also important in infection diagnostics. The start-up Panadea Diagnostics offers an innovative example of this. The young company develops diagnostic tests that are specifically geared towards tropical and emerging infectious diseases.

"The tests developed in this way show significantly improved specificity compared to other commercially available test systems," explains Dr. Christina Deschermeier, Chief Scientific Officer of Panadea Diagnostics GmbH. Using a patented platform technology, highly specific antibody tests can be created that deliver significantly fewer false-positive results compared to conventional systems. This increases the reliability of diagnoses, especially in endemic areas where the need for reliable testing procedures is particularly high. The technology represents an important advance in tropical medicine and contributes to improving global health surveillance.

The medical technology solutions presented show how infection diagnostics are constantly changing and improving. Whether robotics in antibiotics research, modified FFP2 masks for tuberculosis diagnosis, AI- and CRISPR-based virus tests or highly specific antibody tests for tropical infectious diseases - these solutions not only speed up diagnostic processes, but also offer more precise and less invasive alternatives.

In the face of global challenges, especially in times of global health crises such as pandemics, these technologies offer indispensable advantages to meet the growing demands in healthcare. The further development of these approaches will also make infection diagnostics indispensable in everyday medical practice.