• An AI-based program that can custom-tailor the optimum drug combination for individual HIV
  sufferers,
• An endoscopic nanoprobe to detect
  and treat pre-cancerous tissues,
• Improved MRI to more reliably detect
  metastasis,
• Haptic physical examinations
  over the Internet, and
• Non-invasive optical biopsies
  that eliminate the need for surgical tissue removal.

Technology enables people to know more about the state of their health than
ever before. At a recent conference, a speaker’s genetic profile along with data
from an armband that monitored his physical activity, data from a “life shirt”
that recorded his stress level, and the results of a recent full-body scan were
presented and analyzed.

Coming to market right about now are $35 key chains that store a person’s
health records and plug into the USB port of any computer to display the
information, and a $300 to $400 weight-management armband containing a
microprocessor and sensor that can measure how many calories its wearer burns.
“To change people’s behavior you need body awareness,” said one tech company
executive. He may have a vested interest, but the concept has support in the
research literature.

AOL founder Steve Case, who attended the conference, likened the excitement
and opportunities in medical technology today to the excitement and
opportunities in the early days of the Internet.

Reference: Harmon, Amy (2003). “Technology Elite
Are Focusing Next on Human Body.” New York Times, June 16.

The AI in AIDS

An experimental neural network correctly identified 79 percent of alternative
drug combinations predicted to reduce the amount of HIV in a patient’s
bloodstream. HIV therapy often fails because mutations in HIV’s genetic code
lead to drug resistance. Predictive tests that read these genetic changes are
already available, but by adding a neural network, relationships among changes
in the genetic code, the genotype of HIV, and the response of patients to
different drug combinations can be modeled.

The test patients “had high viral loads and were failing because of drug
resistance, despite multiple changes to their treatment and the use of current
resistance tests,” one researcher told BetterHumans reporter Dwayne
Hunter. If the small study’s results are confirmed, the AI-based technique could
make a big difference to HIV patients.

Reference: Hunter, Dwayne (2003). “Artificial
Intelligence Could Reverse HIV Treatment Failure.” Betterhumans, June
17.

Nanoprobe

An endoscopically controlled optical nanoprobe under development will detect
and treat pre-cancerous and malignant tumors and other diseases in the
gastrointestinal tract. The probe is to be tested in pigs and human volunteers.
The nanoprobe would show changes before they turn into advanced cancer, and also
eliminate the need for traditional biopsies. The probe uses optical coherence
tomography to image tissue structure and blood flow in great and microscopic
detail.

Reference: Unknown (2003). “Tiny probe to be
tested for early cancer diagnosis; may prove a noninvasive substitute for
biopsy.” University of California at Irvine news release, May 8.

Improved MRI

An imaging agent called Combidex, injected into the bloodstream before
an MRI, dramatically improves the detection of prostate cancer metastasis and
helps eliminate unnecessary surgeries for patients whose disease has spread. The
technique is a less invasive and more accurate way to detect the spread of
breast, lung, and colon cancers as well, but Combidex is not yet
FDA-approved.

A study involving 80 patients, recently reported in the New England Journal
of Medicine, showed that with Combidex, MRI detection of cancerous lymph
nodes improved to 98 percent from 65 percent. The iron particles attach only to
healthy lymph nodes and appear black on an MRI, making it easily distinguishable
from cancerous cells. The researchers said that nine of the 33 patients whose
disease had spread would likely have been misdiagnosed by standard procedures.

Reference: Aoki, Naomi (2003). “Injection
of hope: Cambridge firm’s imaging agent aids in detecting spread of cancer,
study says.” Boston Globe, June 19, p. E1.

Haptic Examinations

A newly introduced computer program will allow remote physicians to diagnose
patients online using “sympathetic haptics.” The program works in conjunction
with data gloves, apparently worn by both patient and physician. When the
patient touches his or her body, the physician experiences the same feeling
through the glove, over the Internet. The program has obvious applications
besides medicine.

Reference: Lenkowitz (2003). “Virtual reality tool
could allow for physical contact online.” New York Post, June 25. See an October 2002
description of this work.

Optical Biopsies

A new scanning laser microscopy scanning technique could lead to optical
biopsies without removal of tissue. The scans produce images of diseased tissue
at the cellular level in unprecedented detail, and appear especially suited to
the diagnosis of cancers and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
Compared to conventional biopsies, which require invasive surgery, the scans
provide at least as much diagnostic information. The researchers expect to be
able to obtain endoscopic and laparoscopic images of tissues at the cellular
level from deep within patients.

Reference: Segelken, Roger(2003). “Optical
biopsies on horizon using noninvasive biomedical imaging technique developed by
Cornell-Harvard group.” Cornell News, June 11.