A gene expression signature capable of simultaneous diagnosis of multiple diseases in children. The technology can detect 18 different infectious and inflammatory diseases in children that present with similar symptoms.
Proposed use
Simultaneous diagnosis of multiple diseases in children by detecting the expression levels of 161 genes in RNA from patient blood samples.
- Infectious diseases: bacterial infection, viral infection, malaria, tuberculosis
- Inflammatory diseases: Kawasaki disease
Problem addressed
Fever is a prevalent symptom in children with various infectious and inflammatory diseases. Precise and prompt diagnosis is crucial for effective treatment and management. Diagnosing febrile patients requires evaluating multiple potential diseases simultaneously. However, existing diagnostic tests are binary. For the first time we show that with a single set of genes we can identify the cause of fever and inflammation out of 18 different classes.
Technology overview
Using a machine learning approach and incorporating clinical consequence of misdiagnosis as a “cost” weighing, we found that we could measure the expression levels of a 161 genes in RNA from a patient’s blood to distinguish diverse infectious and inflammatory diseases.
Benefits
- Multi-class transcriptomic signature
- Simultaneous diagnosis of 18 different diseases in children
- Timely diagnosis
- Rapid diagnosis
Intellectual property information
A GB priority application was filed on 23rd March 2023.
