The system, developed at Ben Gurion University, makes it possible to predict the development of the disease and evaluate the patient's response to treatment
An innovative diagnostic system that is expected to revolutionize the diagnosis of infectious diseases and save the lives of millions of people, is in advanced stages of development at Ben-Gurion University. The system makes it possible to predict the development of the disease and evaluate the patient's response to treatment.
The system, called Phagolum, and the assessments that are developed based on it, will be able to provide quick and reliable overall information in complex clinical situations in which the patient is exposed to various infections through a single blood test, instead of several different tests that are done today.
The phagolum system is based on measuring the level of metabolic activity of immune system cells (phagocytes) as a response to various infections (viruses, bacteria, and fungi). The various activation states (minimum activation energy required for a certain chemical reaction to occur) are translated with the help of mathematical models into unique parameters that are compared to databases within the Phagolum software and enable the diagnosis of the disease, its severity and the patient's ability to respond to the treatment given to him.
The first kit is expected to enter the market in 2009
The Pagolum's developer team includes Dr. Muni Magriso and Prof. Robert Marks from Ben-Gurion University, Dr. Avi Reinhart, a researcher with many years of experience in developing diagnostic kits. The Pagolum project has come a long way in the last two years, and is in the stage of establishing a company and looking for investors, through the B.G. Negev Technologies, the commercialization company of Ben-Gurion University. The first phagolum kit that will be developed by the company is intended for the detection of sepsis and is expected to enter the market in 2009 after clinical trials in Israel and abroad.
Sepsis is one of the most serious and common diseases and the number of sepsis cases for 2010 is estimated at 1 million in the US alone and more than 2 million worldwide. Health care costs related to sepsis are estimated at $16 billion per year; 18 million cases are tested worldwide and the mortality rates are 40%-80%.
In order to save lives, the discovery must be made as early as possible and be accurate. A single examination of the phagolum will allow early detection of the disease and will also enable quick and effective treatment. The sepsis diagnosis app is just the beginning. In the future, phagolum kits will also be developed for additional infections.
2 תגובות
I just attended a departmental statistics seminar where a nice woman presented a mathematical model she had developed for the treatment of bladder cancer.
And it turns out that there is a great distance between the mathematical understanding that is available to us, and its application in the fields of medicine.
In conclusion: a move, like the one described, is very much welcome.
Tal.
I hope that the next step will be a blood test that will also show other diseases such as cancer and the like so that people will not have to do complicated and targeted tests.
Kudos to Beer Sheva!
Sabdarmish Yehuda