Category Health/Medical

Novel AI method sharpens 3D X-ray vision

Novel AI method sharpens 3D X-ray vision
This 3D image of an integrated circuit showing slices through its thickness was reconstructed with a new technique that incorporates artificial intelligence called the “perception fused iterative tomography reconstruction engine.” Credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory

X-ray tomography is a powerful tool that enables scientists and engineers to peer inside of objects in 3D, including computer chips and advanced battery materials, without performing anything invasive. It’s the same basic method behind medical CT scans.

Scientists or technicians capture X-ray images as an object is rotated, and then advanced software mathematically reconstructs the object’s 3D internal structure...

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New insight into the immune signals driving inflammation in multiple sclerosis

New insight into the immune signals driving inflammation in multiple sclerosis
Representative confocal microscopy image of a cross-section of the whole spinal column of an EAE animal co-transferred with control (red) and Tgfbr1-KO (green) cells. Credit: de la Rosa, Kendirli et al

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurological disease characterized by nerve damage and consequent impairments in vision, movement, balance and mental function. In MS, the immune system mistakenly starts attacking myelin, the protective sheath that surrounds axons (i.e., nerve fibers) in the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves.

Macrophages, immune cells responsible for detecting damaged cells, germs or other debris in the central nervous system (CNS) and eliminating them, have been found to play a key role in MS...

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Easy-to-use tool can identify high- and low-risk metastatic prostate cancer patients earlier

prostate cancer
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

A new study published in Nature Communications provides a framework for researching whether earlier, model-guided treatment intensification can meaningfully improve survival for patients with aggressive disease.

“Early decline in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) to very low levels is one of the strongest predictors of long-term survival in metastatic prostate cancer. However, clinicians currently have to wait up to six months after starting therapy to see whether a patient achieves this favorable response. For patients who do not respond well, this delay may allow the cancer to progress and become more resistant to treatment,” said Soumyajit Roy, MD, a radiation oncologist at UH Seidman Cancer Center and first author of the study.

Because existin...

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New BMI uses AI to reveal hidden metabolic disorders

New BMI reveals hidden metabolic disorders

Researchers at Leipzig University and the University of Gothenburg have developed a novel approach to assessing an individual’s risk of metabolic diseases such as diabetes or fatty liver disease more precisely. Instead of relying solely on the widely used body mass index (BMI), the team developed an AI-based computational model using metabolic measurements. This so-called metabolic BMI shows that people of normal weight with a high metabolic BMI have up to a fivefold higher risk of metabolic disease. The findings have been published in the journal Nature Medicine.

The conventional body mass index, calculated using height and weight, may indicate overweight but does not reflect how healthy or unhealthy body fat actually is...

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