A new algorithm – developed by UMC Groningen, the Medical University of Hanover and artificial intelligence company MIcompany – makes it possible to diagnose an allergy more easily and possibly earlier. Until now, various methods, such as a blood test, have been used to diagnose an allergic disease in children. The algorithm uses artificial intelligence to diagnose allergies.
The diagnosis of an allergy in young children is often difficult to make. The need for a prediction of the risk of allergic diseases is particularly great for young children who have not yet entered school. However, it is difficult to diagnose a condition such as asthma, eczema or hay fever in children, says Prof. Gerard Koppelman, pediatric pulmonologist at the UMCG and initiator of the project.
Koppelman: “Young children often suffer from brief ailments in which the symptoms can resemble an allergic condition, such as attacks of shortness of breath or frequent colds. It is then difficult to diagnose a chronic allergic disease.”
DNA-markers in neuscellen
An algorithm developed at the UMCG helps to arrive at an earlier and better diagnosis. Large data sets of human DNA were analyzed for this: the Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD (GRIAC) has DNA data from blood and nose cells of participants in the national birth cohort.
By analyzing DNA data on a large scale, the researchers found three DNA markers in nose cells that determine the development of an allergic patient. They were able to demonstrate that these three DNA markers are associated with an inflammatory response in nasal cells. Based on three DNA markers, the new algorithm can calculate a risk score for an allergic disease and use it to make a diagnosis.
The current algorithm was developed for 16-year-olds. “Although this discovery is an important step forward in the application of artificial intelligence to diagnose allergy, we need to adapt our algorithm for the younger age group in the future,” says Koppelman. In the future, he wants to use the algorithm to diagnose allergies in young children by means of a nasal swab.
Alternative to blood tests
For example, diagnosing allergic disorders in children can be done with a blood test or a lung function test (in case of asthma), but such a lung function test is often not yet possible for children up to six years of age. If hay fever is suspected, a blood test or a skin test is often done.
prof. Dr. Gerard Koppelman thinks that diagnosing allergies in children can therefore become kinder and more effective by developing a nasal swab test based on the three DNA markers identified in the current study.
And that is badly needed, because in the past 50 years the number of patients with allergic diseases has increased at a rapid pace. So strong that researchers even expect that half of the European population will suffer from it by 2030. This means that conditions such as asthma, eczema or hay fever, like very common childhood illnesses, should preferably be detected quickly before they form a significant burden on the quality of life of patients and the healthcare system.