Innovative technology offers a non-invasive way to monitor blood clotting

Innovative technology offers a non-invasive way to monitor blood clotting

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have found a way to monitor clotting activity in the blood - without the need for invasive procedures. Using a new type of microscope and artificial intelligence (AI), their study shows how to track platelet clumps in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), opening the door to safer, more personalized treatment.

If you've ever cut yourself, you've seen platelets in action - these tiny blood cells are like emergency repairmen to close the damage and stop bleeding. But sometimes they overreact. In people with heart disease, they can form dangerous clots in arteries, leading to heart attacks or strokes.

Platelets play a crucial role in heart disease, particularly CAD, because they are directly involved in the formation of blood clots. To prevent dangerous clots, patients with CAD are often treated with meeting points. However, it is still difficult to accurately assess how well these drugs work in each individual, making monitoring platelet activity an important goal for both doctors and researchers. “

Dr. Kazutoshi Hirose, assistant professor at the University of Tokyo Hospital and lead author of the study

This challenge pushed Hirose and his collaborators to develop a new system for monitoring platelets in motion using a high-speed optical device and artificial intelligence.

“We used an advanced device called a frequency-division multiplexed (FDM) microscope, which works like a super-high-speed camera that captures sharp images of blood cells in flow,” said co-author Yuqi Zhou, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Tokyo. "Just like traffic cameras capture every car on the road, our microscope captures thousands of images of blood cells in motion every second. We then use artificial intelligence to analyze these images. The AI ​​can detect whether it's a single platelet (like a car), a clump of platelets (like a traffic jam), or even white blood cell tagging (like a police chill)."

The research team applied this technique to blood samples from over 200 patients. Their images showed that patients with acute coronary syndrome had more platelet aggregates than patients with chronic symptoms - supporting the idea that this technology can track clotting risk in real time.

“Part of my scientific curiosity lies in recent advances in high-speed imaging and artificial intelligence, which have opened up new ways to observe and analyze blood cells in motion,” said Dr. Keisuke Goda, a professor of chemistry at the University of Tokyo, who led the research team. “AI can see patterns beyond what the human eye can see.”

One of the key findings was that plain blood drawn from the arm - rather than from the heart's arteries - provided almost the same information.

"If doctors want to understand what's happening in the arteries, especially the coronary arteries, they have to perform invasive procedures, such as a catheter through the wrist or groin to collect blood," Hirose said. "We found that just a regular blood sample from a vein in the arm to the arteries can provide meaningful information about platelet activity. This is exciting because it makes the process much easier, safer and more convenient."

The long-term hope is that this technology will help doctors better personalize heart disease treatment.

"Just as some people need more or less painkillers depending on their body, we found that people react differently to platelet associations. In fact, some patients are affected by recurrent thrombosis, others suffer from recurrences of bleeding events even with the same antiplatelet medications," said Hirose. "Our technology can help doctors see how each individual's platelets are behaving in real time. This means treatments can be tailored to better suit each person's needs."

"Our study shows that even something as small as a blood cell can tell a big story about your health," Zhou added.

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