Q&A: A rapid diagnostic using AI to identify bacterial pneumonia – Med-Tech Innovation
Bacterial pneumonia, medical concept. 3D illustration showing rod-shaped bacteria inside alveoli
Tell us about this new diagnostic, and the development that has gone into it?
Pattern BioScience has developed the only rapid diagnostic technology that, in just hours, can definitively identify (ID) and determine the antibiotic susceptibility (AST) of bacterial infections. As a result, healthcare teams using our technology can get appropriate, life-saving treatment to patients faster. The Pattern technology is based on single-cell analysis of microorganisms combined with machine-learning tools to identify metabolic signatures (patterns) of bacteria, enabling simple, rapid species identification and antibiotic susceptibility profiling.
The technology has been in development since 2016 by a team of diagnostics industry veterans. The first two years were devoted to proving out Pattern’s novel technology concept, followed by two years of R&D to develop the technology needed demonstrate feasibility of Pattern’s initial product embodiment. The company then transitioned into a development phase, which is currently wrapping up as they prepare to initiate pre-clinical and clinical performance evaluation studies with external trial sites.
In terms of the physical device itself – what has gone into that creation?
Pattern’s platform utilises an integrated ID and AST method that reduces system complexity to enable cost-effective testing that will be affordable for use in routine care. The platform comprises a modular random-access instrument and assay-specific cartridges for automated processing and data analysis. Each independent test module is individually addressable and can process up to two cartridges at a time. Modules are compact and stackable for efficient use of lab bench space, and additional modules can be added as needed allowing customisable throughput for laboratories of all sizes.
The platform bypasses traditional culture-based colony isolation by encapsulating individual bacterial cells in picolitre-scale droplets, creating an array of single-cell isolates in individual incubation chambers. This crucial step separates the antibiotic response of each type of bacteria in the sample, enabling Pattern to simultaneously determine antibiotic susceptibilities of multiple bacterial species.
You say there is no diagnostic that has the speed and precision for diagnosing bacterial pneumonia – what makes this different?
The Pattern Bioscience platform is the first that can deliver definitive pathogen identification and antibiotic susceptibility results in a fraction of the three-to-four days required for the current gold standard of culture-based tests. Pattern’s direct-from-specimen approach enables this speed by bypassing the time-consuming and labour-intensive processes associated with bacterial culture. Additionally, Pattern’s proprietary, powerful phenotypic approach rapidly diagnoses polymicrobial (heterogenous) specimens —even detecting co-infections — to clearly identify which treatments will work best for each patient. As compared to genotypic tests including PCR and next-gen sequencing (NGS), the Pattern Bioscience test directly exposes the causal pathogen to actual antibiotic treatments, rapidly producing a clear view of how the pathogenic cells respond. This is critical because nearly infinite potential combinations of genetic mutations, expression levels, and epigenetic factors can influence the antibiotic resistance phenotype.
Tell us about the role of AI within this diagnostic?
By incorporating AI into our technology, we can turn what is typically a tedious chemistry-based assay development process into a scalable software process. AI-based pattern recognition differentiates pathogen species; our identification algorithm leverages neural nets that incorporate knowledge of how different bacterial species affect our system kinetics.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Today, clinical laboratorians have to choose between rapid tests that provide genotypic results (PCR based) but don’t enable fully optimised antibiotic therapy, and slow tests (culture) that take days to provide concrete phenotypic data. Pattern is bringing together the best of both worlds with a test that is both rapid and definitive, clearly identifying the causal pathogen and directly testing its susceptibility to antibiotics.