Research suggests machine learning can assist clinicians with diagnoses, treatment   

Imagine a world where neurological diagnoses are made with greater precision, treatment decisions are supported by data-driven insights and early detection is more frequent. This is the vision driving new research from the Mayo Clinic Neurology Artificial Intelligence Program (NAIP), where artificial intelligence (AI) serves as a powerful tool to support and augment the expertise of healthcare professionals. 

The NAIP team is testing StateViewer, a Mayo-created platform that can take an individual patient's PET scan and apply artificial intelligence to find similar cases of brain disease in Mayo's distributed data network. By enhancing diagnostic accuracy, researchers envision StateViewer will support care teams in determining a dementia diagnosis — such as Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body and frontotemporal dementia — and help guide treatment decisions for patients.  

 "By training AI models on vast datasets of patient brain scans, Mayo's Neurology Artificial Intelligence Program is researching a level of fast detection and precise diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases that support human expertise," says Dr. David T. Jones, a Mayo neurologist and NAIP director. "Making more precise diagnostic support tools widely available will significantly accelerate progress toward finding cures for these devastating brain conditions and ensuring existing therapies are used for everyone who will benefit."  

Using AI to support clinicians' expertise 

 Typically, when a patient is being evaluated for a brain disease, a clinician carefully reviews the person's PET scan, looking for characteristic patterns that correlate with different types of dementia. These brain scans play a critical role in determining the cause and stage of a patient's condition, which directly informs the treatment plan. 

Mayo Clinic clinicians bring a wealth of expertise to interpreting these complex images. However, distinguishing between different brain diseases can be challenging, even for experts, which can occasionally lead to uncertainties in diagnosis and treatment. 

 To address these challenges, the NAIP team at Mayo Clinic began developing an advanced platform in 2019. This platform leverages machine learning and large-scale data processing to analyze brain scans. Working within the Mayo Clinic Cloud, an innovative technology platform developed in collaboration with Google Cloud, NAIP's multidisciplinary team — including software engineers, data scientists and neurologists — harnesses decades of clinical imaging data. This unified cloud environment allows real-time access and analysis, applying state-of-the-art machine learning techniques to support clinicians in making more precise diagnoses. 

 "Data is the bedrock for any tool of this kind, and our cloud data infrastructure was the essential technology for bringing this platform into the clinic," says Dr. Leland Barnard, head of data science and engineering with NAIP. "By integrating AI with clinician expertise, Mayo Clinic continues to push the boundaries of neurological care, improving diagnostic accuracy and patient outcomes." 

The StateViewer platform generates and displays the results of an individual patient's PET scan compared with PET scans of thousands of other Mayo Clinic patients with potentially similar neurodegenerative conditions whose diagnoses had been confirmed through extensive evaluations, including detailed longitudinal research and autopsy studies. Strict privacy and security measures have been implemented throughout the research process to protect patients' data.  

AI helps pick out the needle in the haystack  

 After verification and validation, StateViewer has been successfully piloted by Mayo neurologists as a research tool. These studies have demonstrated a significant enhancement in the accuracy of clinicians' interpretations of brain images, surpassing what is achievable with current tools alone. Under research, this tool can be used for patients in Mayo's Alzheimer's Disease Treatment Clinic with a PET scan available; the outputs of StateViewer may be reviewed at the weekly multidisciplinary case conference informing precision medicine-based recommendations for these patients.

 "By combining AI analysis with innovative tools, this technology revolutionizes the way clinicians interpret brain scans, enhancing their ability to diagnose and manage patients with neurodegenerative diseases," says Dr. John Stricker, NAIP lead software engineer.

 In a recent retrospective test, the NAIP team compared expert neurologists' diagnoses with StateViewer's ability to accurately detect Lewy body dementia compared with posterior cortical atrophy or other often indistinguishable degenerative conditions. It is difficult to distinguish these conditions visually as they affect similar brain regions, making it an ideal situation to demonstrate the advantages of using machine learning to assist with clinical decision-making. 

 As seen in this test, which is being considered for scientific journal publication, StateViewer's underlying machine learning model presents a probability of each diagnosis and clearly indicates how they were assigned. StateViewer's output helped clinicians double their speed while reviewing brain scans and triple their diagnostic accuracy.

 The technology "can pick out the needle in the haystack," Dr. Jones says.  

Expanding use of StateViewer technology 

Neurologic diseases are a common cause of death globally and a leading cause of disability. As the population ages, this burden grows. However, neurology expertise around the world is extremely limited, especially in low-income countries and in medical care deserts in some rural and urban areas where access to healthcare professionals may be unavailable or have long wait times. The NAIP team's goal is to expand the use of StateViewer technology outside of Mayo with the aim that it could be transformative on a global scale in the near future and expand access to these data-driven insights.  

"The goal is that a Mayo Clinic expert opinion would be available, with the help of one simple test, no matter how far the patient is from our campuses," says Dr. Jones.

 The NAIP team continues to develop several applications using the same cloud-computing approach. New data modalities, such as speech and cognition tests, are planned to be incorporated into StateViewer's analyses, providing a more comprehensive picture of patient health.  

 "I think this could be the first of many powerful innovations," Dr. Barnard says. "Our rich data resources tied to deep neurologic expertise still hold even more untapped potential to do good for our patients." 

 "A union of forces focused on the patient has always been the Mayo model of care," Dr. Stricker says. "Now that multidisciplinary team approach is bringing data scientists and software engineers together with clinicians to help transform healthcare."

Related content:

• Mayo Clinic Minute: Using AI and brain waves for early diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease
• AI boosts the power of EEGs, enabling neurologists to quickly, precisely pinpoint signs of dementia
• Mayo Clinic Minute: Testing gait to help in early diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease
• News release: New computational model proposed for Alzheimer's disease

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There is new hope in the fight against glioblastoma, the deadliest and most aggressive form of primary brain cancer.

Currently there is no cure, but results of a new study conducted at Mayo Clinic show patients experienced improved overall survival while maintaining quality of life after undergoing a novel approach to treatment.

Watch: Breakthrough in the fight against glioblastoma

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Richard Casper was one of the study participants. The Arizona man enrolled in the clinical trial at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix after his diagnosis of glioblastoma in 2019. Richard was given only months to live, but his family says thanks to his strength, perseverance, and innovative medical care, he survived nearly double the amount of time.

"To be almost two and a half, three years in after being told you only have a few months, it's quite remarkable," says Susan Casper, Richard's daughter.

Richard succumbed to the disease in 2023. During the treatment, his family says he had little to no side effects. In the months before his passing, Richard stated, "I feel great. If someone didn't tell me I have the glioblastoma, I wouldn't even know it."

The clinical trial was led by Dr. Sujay Vora, a radiation oncologist at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. The small, single-arm study incorporated the use of advanced imaging technology combined with cutting-edge radiation therapy in patients over the age of 65 with newly diagnosed World Health Organization (WHO) grade 4 malignant glioblastoma.

"The patients lived longer than we expected. This patient population is expected to live six to nine months. Our average survival was 13.1 months. There were some patients that were out closer to two years. The results exceeded our expectations. We are very pleased," says Dr. Vora.

The study is published in The Lancet Oncology.

Why is glioblastoma so deadly?

Glioblastoma is among the most challenging cancers to treat. The disease is aggressive and invades healthy brain tissue with hairlike tentacles. "That is why doing a complete surgery is very difficult, as compared to say breast cancer, where a lumpectomy can be performed to remove not only the tumor, but a healthy rim of tissue around it," explains Dr. Vora.

Surgery for glioblastoma presents a different set of obstacles. "When it comes to glioblastoma, it is challenging to do that level of surgery. You try to surgically remove whatever you can safely without leaving the patient worse off after surgery."

Another factor that makes glioblastoma so lethal is that it can be fast- growing and unresponsive to treatment.

"These cancer cells are quite challenging to overcome," says Dr. Vora. "There are some patients we see after their surgery, and by the time we are ready to start their treatment, they've already had a recurrence of the disease."

An estimated 14,500 people will be diagnosed with glioblastoma in the U.S this year. "In the best of circumstances the average survival rates are in the 14-15 month range. But for patients 65 and older, the group that was the focus of our study, patients do even worse. The prognosis for this population is between six and nine months," says Dr. Vora.

Symptoms of glioblastoma

• Headache
• Nausea and vomiting
• Confusion or decline in brain function
• Memory loss
• Personality changes
• Vision changes
• Speech difficulties
• Trouble with balance
• Muscle weakness
• Seizures

Attacking glioblastoma with a triad

For the clinical trial, Dr. Vora and his team mapped out a plan that would allow them to be more intentional and precise with treating the location of the glioblastoma.

The imaging incorporated the use of ¹⁸F-DOPA PET and contrast-enhanced MRI. "¹⁸F-DOPA PET is an amino acid tracer that can cross the blood brain barrier, and it can accumulate within the glioblastoma cells itself," says Dr. Vora.

Researchers combined these images to determine the location of the most metabolically active "hot spots" of the cancer in the brain.

Taking aim with proton beam therapy

Study investigators used one of the most advanced forms of radiation treatment, called proton beam therapy.

"With standard radiation, the beams go through the brain tissue, so there's an entrance dose and the exit dose. But with proton beam therapy, we dial up how deeply we want the radiation to go," explains Dr. Vora. "It drops off its energy in the tumor, and then there's basically no radiation after that. It allows us to be more preferential into the delivery of radiation and protect more of the healthy surrounding tissue."

During proton beam therapy, a patient lies on a table while the machine rotates around the patient's head targeting the tumor with an invisible beam. The patient is awake for the procedure. It is painless with many patients reporting fewer to no side effects.

Unlike traditional radiation for glioblastoma, which is typically delivered over the course of three to six weeks, treatment with proton beam therapy for the study was conducted in one to two weeks.

"I am hopeful that this is the first step of many where we can continue to move the needle and allow patients to live longer and live well," says Dr. Vora. "The goal is to improve the outcomes for our patients allowing them to spend more time with their families."

Nadya's story

2022 was a tough year for Nadya El-Afandi. She was on the verge of celebrating a long but successful battle with breast cancer.

"Out of the blue, I had a seizure. I went to the hospital, they did an MRI. After additional tests they told me the news: 'You have a glioblastoma,'" recalls Nadya. She asked her doctor if she should continue her breast cancer treatment. "He said, 'No'-meaning the glioblastoma would kill me before the breast cancer."

Nadya was not about to give up.

Nadya is a wife and mother of four children. She lives just outside of Rochester, Minnesota. "My children said to me, 'Mom, you're a unicorn. Of course you'll live.' My mother has had a number of medical conditions and we never expected her to live this long. And she's still alive and with us," says Nadya. "My children have also said, 'You've got grandma's blood in you. You will live.'"

Nadya is receiving care at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. That's where she learned about a new clinical trial called SAGA, or stereotactic ablative radiation treatment for glioblastoma. The phase 2 clinical trial is building upon Dr. Vora's research and studying a larger group of patients. The study is being led by Dr. William Breen, radiation oncologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

It has been 15 months since Nadya began treatment for glioblastoma. So far, there is no sign the glioblastoma has returned. "Nadya has already exceeded the time that's expected time to have a tumor recurrence, and she continues to do well," says Dr. Breen. "Nadya is beyond some measures of what the average, overall survival time would be."

While Nadya's progress in encouraging, Dr. Breen says it is important to note that it is too early to draw any conclusions about safety or efficacy of this approach to treatment until the study is completed.

Meanwhile, Nadya is focused on living her life to the fullest. Fifteen months after undergoing treatment, Nadya embarked on an adventure to Hawaii, where she spent time taking helicopter tours, snorkeling and hiking.

Related articles

• Breakthrough in treatment approach showing promise in the fight against glioblastoma, the deadliest and most aggressive type of brain cancer
• (VIDEO) Focus on hope: Brescia’s Story
• All-Star pitcher Liam Hendriks shares how he closed out cancer at Mayo Clinic in Arizona
• Cancer is tough. Evelyn Owens is tougher
• https://cancerblog.mayoclinic.org/2021/12/21/glioblastoma-in-older-adults-improving-survival-and-quality-of-life/
• https://cancerblog.mayoclinic.org/2024/05/15/technology-clinical-trials-offer-hope-after-glioma-diagnosis/

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In this Mayo Clinic Minute, Dr. Hugo Botha, a Mayo Clinic behavioral neurologist, explains how voice samples collected for research can help diagnose neurodegenerative diseases early.

Watch: The Mayo Clinic Minute

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"There are some diseases where the very first manifestation is in someone's voice or their speech," says Dr. Botha. Those include Parkinson’s disease; atypical parkinsonism such as multiple system atrophy, progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal syndrome; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); myasthenia gravis; and some types of frontotemporal dementia that can result in aphasia.

As part of clinical practice, Mayo Clinic's neurology patients often are recorded when they have their voice or speech examined, which gives clinicians the opportunity to track the disease over time.

"But separate from the clinical practice, we have a large research program at Mayo, where we are collecting voice and speech samples using an application that runs on the person's phone or the laptop computer," Dr. Botha explains.

To collect the voice samples, patients are tasked with running through a series of exams remotely.

"They could do it — say every couple of weeks, every couple of months — so we can really get a longitudinal view of their disease instead of just a snapshot," says Dr. Botha.

The creation of this large and growing speech bank, which securely stores all speech and voice samples, can be used for research, including using it to train artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms.  

"There are some signals in someone's voice and speech that a computer or an algorithm might pick up on, that a human listener wouldn't pick up on. And so that's more of the sort of research, AI side of things, where we're trying to use hundreds of recordings and patients with various diseases, and then trying to see if the computer can separate those diseases, even though human listeners may not be able to," says Dr. Botha.

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Mayo Clinic researchers will work on a federally funded project to advance research in mental health using big data and machine learning to ultimately improve patient outcomes and personalize treatments.

A grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is a five-year project on which Mayo Clinic will serve as the data coordination center for the Individually Measured Phenotypes to Advance Computational Translation in Mental Health, or IMPACT-MH, program. Mayo researchers will closely collaborate with other grant awardees to help them understand their research data. Mayo is leading the Data Standards core of the study, implementing data standardization for conditions such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, sleep disorders and related mental illnesses. The team will leverage both cutting-edge AI techniques and domain expertise, and the result eventually will lead to better treatments for patients.

Mayo also will develop an ontological, or categorical, representation for the Research Domain Criteria established by NIMH as a research framework for mental health disorders. The goal is to improve diagnosis and treatment and hasten cures through new research approaches.

Millions of people suffer from mental illness every year. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness:

• One in five U.S. adults experiences mental illness each year.
• One in 20 U.S. adults experiences serious mental illness each year.
• One in six U.S. youth aged 6-17 experiences a mental health disorder each year.

"There are serious challenges treating mental illness mostly because it is underdiagnosed, under-reported and broadly defined, with a lack of resources available to those who need help," says Cui Tao, Ph.D., the Nancy Peretsman and Robert Scully Chair of AI and Informatics and one of the principal investigators of the project.

"The field lacks universally accepted, standardized measures for assessing specific conditions, which makes it difficult to aggregate and compare data across studies and settings," says Dr. Tao. In addition, the health system depends on patients' willingness to report their symptoms and follow up with a mental health professional for diagnosis and treatment. These challenges make it difficult to collect and analyze data on various mental health disorders.

The IMPACT-MH program will allow Mayo Clinic scientists to advance artificial intelligence and machine learning so researchers can use the technology to process large data sets on mental health. Researchers will be able to see patterns in illness that could help them identify causes, signs and symptoms while assisting in the selection of the best treatments for patients using refined algorithms.

"Our goal is to establish a FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) data ecosystem for IMPACT-MH, facilitating critical aspects of data management and sharing," says Dr. Tao.

Through collaborative efforts and the utilization of advanced data management and analytics techniques, the researchers hope to make significant contributions to the field and advance the understanding of mental health, benefiting patients. The team will work to integrate data from behavioral assessments, clinical records and biological markers, and to generate more precise and objective clinical disease characteristics, Dr. Tao says.

The Mayo team will collaborate with a Yale University team led by Dr. Hua Xu and a University of Pennsylvania team led by Dr. Yong Chen to enhance the impact and reach of the program's efforts.

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One key treatment option is the Whipple procedure, a complex surgery that removes the head of the pancreas. There are three approaches to this challenging surgery: open, laparoscopic and robotic.

Dr. Michael Kendrick, a hepatobiliary and pancreas surgeon at Mayo Clinic, specializes in the laparoscopic Whipple procedure. He says, depending on the location and stage, patients may need to undergo extensive treatment before surgery. This makes the minimally invasive laparoscopic approach easier on the patient.

Watch: Laparoscopic Whipple procedure

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"At this point, surgery is the only potentially curative treatment," says Dr. Kendrick.

However, for the best outcome, most patients with pancreatic cancer will need chemotherapy and radiation before surgery to maximize cancer outcomes. Dr. Kendrick says that after such rigorous treatments prior to surgery, minimally invasive approaches help minimize the effect on the patient's health.

"It's much less stress on the body than the open approach, and so most of the studies show that patients have less pain, quicker recovery, less blood loss and shorter hospital stays, which has been very beneficial," he says.

Laparoscopic means making small incisions and using a camera and special instruments that traverse the abdominal wall to perform the operation internally.

"The surgeon's right at the bedside, holding and controlling all of these instruments," says Dr. Kendrick.

After the operation, the patient wakes up with bandages rather than a large incision. These small incisions mean less pain from the operation and quicker healing time. 

"The minimally invasive approach is allowing people to recover quicker, which gives them more hope that after all of the treatment they've gone through  — the chemotherapy, the radiation, now the surgery — that finally they're going to get some of their life back. And I think that's really rewarding," Dr. Kendrick says.

Mayo Clinic is a leader in the minimally invasive laparoscopic approach to the Whipple procedure and is one of the few medical centers offering it. Dr. Kendrick says it's important for patients to ask questions about their treatment options and get a second opinion to ensure they are getting the best possible treatment.

Related posts:

• Mayo Clinic Minute: Detecting pancreatic cancer
• Detecting pancreatic cancer through changes in body composition and metabolism

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At 27 years old, Shraddha Kalgutkar was told she had less than a year to live. Determined to prove everyone wrong, she turned to Mayo Clinic in Arizona.

Now Shraddha is living proof of the power of innovation combined with a patient's will to survive.

Watch: Harnessing the power of innovation and a patient's will to survive

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Shraddha's Story

It was November 2022, just a month shy of her 28th birthday.

Shraddha was wrapping up another day at the medical clinic where she worked as an occupational therapist. Shraddha's job was to help patients regain the ability to perform day-to-day activities following a health challenge like a surgery.

Suddenly that afternoon, Shraddha became the patient who needed help.

"My co-worker looked at me and said, 'Why is your hand all purple and blue?'" Shraddha says. She admits she had been feeling exceptionally tired as of late, but attributed it to a thyroid condition.

Her co-worker checked Shraddha's vital signs and found her blood oxygen level was dangerously low. "I remember her saying, 'If this is right, you wouldn't even be standing.'" A repeat test showed the same result. "The next thing I remember was we were on our way to the hospital," says Shraddha.

At the hospital doctors began looking for the cause of Shraddha's low blood oxygen level. A series of tests traced Shraddha's condition all the way back to the day she was born.

"When I was born, doctors said I had fatty liver, but they didn't know why so they called it 'undiagnosed,'" says Shraddha. "The doctors thought it wouldn't be a problem because the liver has a tendency to heal itself." It didn't. Shraddha grew up seemingly in perfect health, unaware that her liver disease was silently doing damage to her body.

A little girl with a big dream

Shraddha was born in Mumbai, India which is often called the "City of Dreams." At a young age, Shraddha had big dreams of her own. She wanted to pursue a career in the medical field that would allow her to help others.

Every year Shraddha went to the doctor for her routine physical. Each time she was given a clean bill of health. "I used to do blood tests, but everything always looked good," says Shraddha. Still, the question of what caused her congenital liver condition lingered in her mind.

"I didn't have a family history of any liver condition. I've never had alcohol in my life," says Shraddha. "There was always a question mark. I needed to find out why this happened to me."

At 23, Shraddha became the first person in her family to leave India and go to the U.S. to attend college. She studied occupational therapy and got her master's degree at the University of Southern California. After college, Shraddha found her dream job at a medical clinic in California.

'You have less than a year to live'

All was going well until Shraddha began to noticed she was unusually tired. "When my sister came to visit she noticed I got tired after walking short distances. I went to the doctor and they thought maybe it was my thyroid," recalls Shraddha.

Then came the day her hands turned purple and her blood oxygen level mysteriously dropped. "My co-worker is a nurse so she got the oximeter and checked and it was 78%," says Shraddha. "And I was like, No, that's not possible because I wouldn't be alive." Shraddha's co-worker checked again, looked at the reading and said, "That's it, you have to go to the hospital."

A series of tests at the hospital revealed shocking results. Shraddha's liver condition had silently led to a more serious condition called hepatopulmonary syndrome.

Hepatopulmonary syndrome

Hepatopulmonary syndrome is caused when liver disease shunts blood away from the lungs preventing the body from getting the appropriate amount of oxygen. Doctors told Shraddha the only way she would survive is with a liver transplant. However, she says she was told her condition was so severe and the risk so high, that she would likely not survive a transplant.

She was denied the transplant and given less than a year to live.

"I told the doctors 'that just can't be. I can't have just one year with nothing to bring to this world. I have not served my purpose,'" recalls Shraddha.

Refusing to give up, Shraddha turned to Mayo Clinic in Arizona.

"More than 40% of her blood was being shunted away from her lungs. Because of that she had extremely low oxygen levels in her blood," explains Bashar Aqel, M.D., director of the Transplant Center at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. "Shraddha's case was one of the most severe cases of liver disease and hepatopulmonary syndrome."

Saving Shraddha

The liver transplant was Shraddha's only hope for survival. "Without a transplant, this disease was progressive and fatal. We don't like to use this word, but it is a very progressive disease," says Dr. Aqel. "There was no other cure than a liver transplant."

Dr. Aqel and his multidisciplinary team of experts at Mayo Clinic went to work on a strategy to save Shraddha. The team came up with a plan using a combination of some of the latest cutting-edge technologies in medicine.

"Liver in a box"

Transplanting any organ is a race agains the clock. Every second the donor organ is outside the body it begins to break down. Surgeons only have a limited time window to transplant the organ. Due to the complexity of Shraddha's case, Dr. Aqel's team knew they would need extra time. They decided to use one of the latest medical breakthroughs in transplant often referred to as "liver in a box."

Traditionally donor organs are kept cold until transplanted. "Liver in a box" uses a warm organ preservation method. The organ is placed in a container that pumps oxygenated, nutrient-rich blood through the liver simulating conditions in the human body. The innovative perfusion system gives surgeons more time to perform the transplant.

"Having the donor "liver in a box" allowed the donor liver to stay healthy while we performed this complex surgery," says Dr. Aqel.

Currently, this warm perfusion technology is primarily being used for heart, lungs and liver transplants.

Saving lives with mobile ECMO

The next challenge was how to keep Shraddha's blood oxygen levels stable after her transplant. Dr. Aqel's team turned to a device called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO. The device often is used when the lungs aren't working properly. ECMO helps with the appropriate gas exchange that must occur to keep the body's blood oxygen level safe.

"It helps in getting oxygen into the blood and carbon dioxide out of the blood through the machine," explains Ayan Sen, M.D., medical director of Mayo Clinic's Intensive Care Unit in Arizona. "It helped us while her lungs recovered after her transplant."

The Mayo team also used one of the newest advancements in ECMO where the device is mobile.

"The best part of the mobile ECMO was that we do it in a way where she could actually walk around with the machine so that we could continue with her physical therapy, which is so important for the healing process after such a complex surgery," says Dr. Sen.

Shraddha was in the ICU for nearly two months. With mobile ECMO she walked nearly every day.

Dr. Sen says mobile ECMO has proved to be a game-changer in critical cases like Shraddha's.

"It is technology that has really expanded from what surgeons do when they do heart surgeries and transplants where now we can do this to save lives at any place that is not a complex environment, like the ICU or the operating rooms," explains Dr. Sen.

Mobile ECMO has become a lifesaving medical breakthrough for many patients.

"It has enabled us to raise the bar when it comes to saving people, who, until now, could not have been saved in the absence of this heart-lung machine," says Dr. Sen.

A team of highly specialized experts escorted Shraddha on her daily walks, meticulously monitoring her vital signs. Each step required Shraddha to muster every bit of strength she had.

"From the first day, I thought even if it pains me, if it hurts, even if it feels impossible, I still need to put that step forward to do something better today than yesterday," recalls Shraddha.

'Mayo's mission is now my purpose'

Almost two years after her harrowing experience, Shraddha is healthy and back at work. She continues her daily walks, only now, at the beach, in solitude, reflecting on how her own experience can make her a better healthcare professional.

"Mayo Clinic doesn't like to say no. They set out to achieve the unachievable," says Shraddha. "My goal is to treat patients as they do, making them a priority."

Shraddha says words of thanks alone are not enough to convey her gratitude.

"Dr. Aqel and his team achieved something for me that everyone else thought was impossible," says Shraddha. "It was a gift. I will keep the mission of Mayo Clinic in mind when I am serving my patients. My purpose now is to put forward their purpose and help someone else."

Related articles:

• Heart Transplant Innovation: New ‘heart in a box’ technology provides gift of life to Arizona man, as couple prepares to celebrate 50-year anniversary
• Breaking barriers: Helping Native Americans in need get the gift of life
• Organ Transplant Innovation: Helping more people get the gift of life

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ROCHESTER, Minn. — Doctors at Mayo Clinic used a new catheter-based approach to draw out resistant pockets of infection that settle in the heart, known as right-sided infective endocarditis, without surgery. Unless treated quickly, the walled-off infections can grow, severely damaging heart valves and potentially affecting other organs as well. In a recent study, over 90% of the participants had their infection cleared, and they had lower in-hospital mortality compared to those whose infections remained.

The research is part of a Mayo Clinic-led study across 19 U.S. sites involving patients who were not good candidates for surgery and whose right-sided heart infections had not responded to antibiotics. Abdallah El Sabbagh, M.D., an interventional cardiologist at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, was the study's principal investigator. Dr. El Sabbagh presented late-breaking research findings at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics Symposium on Oct. 30.

High-risk patients have few treatment options when a serious infection becomes entrenched in a heart valve. People with weakened immune systems, such as those who have had a transplant or cancer treatment, are more susceptible to such infections. IV drug users and patients with implanted medical devices such as pacemakers and artificial heart valves are also more likely to develop infective endocarditis. Approximately half of the 285 study participants were people who inject IV drugs.

"Our research findings show that using a catheter to draw out most of the heart infection potentially made a significant difference in a patient's response to antibiotic therapy afterward to clear up the infection. The participants in this study were all high-risk patients, and most were not responding to antibiotic therapy alone and were considered to have significant risks with open heart surgery. We were able to show that minimally invasive catheter-based aspiration of the infection is feasible, successful and may help a significant population of patients who otherwise have no alternative therapeutic options," says Dr. El Sabbagh.

The catheter-based system was originally developed to remove blood clots from the lungs without surgery. While its off-label use for infective endocarditis shows potential as a safe and effective option, Dr. El Sabbagh notes that further prospective study is needed.  

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About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news.

Media contact:

• Terri Malloy, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

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Mayo Clinic has been designated a Tier 1 Center of Excellence for Telomere Biology Disorders by Team Telomere, an international organization devoted to improving the lives of those affected by these complex conditions. This recognition reinforces Mayo Clinic's commitment to enhance diagnostic precision, advance patient care and develop groundbreaking treatments. 

Telomere biology disorders, also known as short telomere syndromes or disorders, are rare diseases due to genetic mutations that accelerate shortening of telomeres, which are protective caps at the ends of chromosomes. People with these disorders often face multiple diseases such as pulmonary fibrosis, bone marrow failure, osteoporosis, various cancers and liver fibrosis. Some people experience early signs of aging, like graying hair or fragile nails. 

"Since its launch in 2016 by Mayo Clinic's Center for Individualized Medicine, the Telomere Biology Disorders clinic has rapidly developed into a leading program, now seeing 3-5 new cases each month and serving more than 126 families across its Minnesota and Arizona locations," says Mrinal Patnaik, M.B.B.S., a hematologist and director of the program. "The clinic leverages expertise from hematologists, oncologists, pulmonologists, gastroenterologists, dermatologists, liver specialists, pharmacists, molecular biologists, genetic counselors and more." 

The clinic offers a wide range of diagnostic and treatment options for patients, including: 

• Blood tests (including CBC and liver function tests) 

• Measurement of telomere length 

• Bone marrow studies  

• Lung function testing  

• Advanced imaging techniques such as CT, MRI, MRE and ultrasound 

• Contrast echocardiography and endoscopy 

• Head and neck and anogenital cancer screening 

• Hematopoietic cell transplantation 

• Lung and liver transplantation 

• DEXA scan for bone density 

• Genetic counseling and family screening  

The Tier 1 designation is part of a newly established tier system by Team Telomere that recognizes organizations demonstrating excellence in several key areas, including coordinated and comprehensive care, advocacy and collaborative research efforts.  

Mayo Clinic's status as a Tier 1 center further enhances its leading role in shaping the future of Telomere Biology Disorders management and treatment. 

The post Mayo Clinic named Tier 1 Center of Excellence for Telomere Biology Disorders  appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

ROCHESTER, Minn.  — Mayo Clinic Platform_Accelerate has announced a strategic agreement with the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) to implement a two-phase program aimed at enhancing U.S. healthcare and business immersion opportunities for Japanese health technology companies.

In the first phase, 16 Japanese companies will gain insights through an educational immersion program led by Mayo Clinic Platform_Accelerate aimed to provide firsthand experience in observing how healthcare professionals use or would benefit from artificial intelligence (AI) in their clinical practices. In the second phase, up to five companies will be selected for onboarding into Mayo Clinic Platform_Accelerate.

Using Mayo Clinic Platform's global, de-identified data network, Mayo Clinic Platform_Accelerate helps health technology startups focus on validation and clinical readiness of their AI-driven solutions in line with healthcare industry standards. The program provides participants access to Mayo Clinic experts in regulatory, clinical, technology and business domains.

"We are excited to welcome 16 innovative Japanese digital health companies into the first phase of this program. We look forward to supporting their journey and fostering their growth as they prepare to make a potentially significant impact on global healthcare," says Jamie Sundsbak, senior manager of the Accelerate program.

Learn more about the 16 companies intending to participate in the phase 1 education program:

• Aillis Inc. Aillis developed one of the world's largest pharyngeal image databases along with AI diagnostic technology for diseases detectable from the pharynx. The company launched NODOCA, an AI-powered pharyngeal endoscopy system, as its first product, which is approved and reimbursed in Japan as an AI medical device for diagnosing influenza. The company is based in Tokyo.
• Ayumo Inc. Ayumo's gait recognition technology remotely screens musculoskeletal diseases without wearables, aiding early detection. These conditions, often hard to identify, can lead to severe outcomes such as spinal injury and paralysis. The company is based in Osaka, Japan.
• BiPSEE Inc. provides virtual reality (VR) solutions based on cognitive behavioral therapy through visualization and gamification using VR sessions and complementary web apps. The company is developing software as a medical device (SaMD) for depression and non-SaMD to support mental wellness. The company is based in Tokyo.
• Boston Medical Sciences Inc. Boston Medical Sciences aims to eradicate deaths caused by colorectal cancer and simplify screenings by introducing a laxative-free virtual colonoscopy. The company is based in Tokyo.
• CureApp Inc. CureApp develops evidence-based, best-in-class digital therapeutics. Their flagship solution pioneering remission of high blood pressure is validated by randomized clinical trials and obtained medical device approval in Japan. The single arm trial result in the U.S. is outstanding compared to other solutions. The company is based in Tokyo.
• I.W.G. Inc. I.W.G. developed a cloud-based platform to improve operational efficiency in hospitals, including secure data sharing, AI screening for medical checkups, task management, billing and hospital administration. The company is based in Tokyo.
• Jmees Inc. Jmees developed the SurVis program, which uses AI to analyze laparoscopic surgery images in real time and support the surgeon's ability to recognize organs, thereby enabling safer surgery. The company is based in Chiba, Japan.
• Quadlytics Quadlytics specializes in wearable sensor technology and real-time physiological signal analytics to provide predictive health, safety and security services. Their core technology focuses on heart rate variability analysis, particularly for predicting epileptic seizures. The company is based in Chiba, Japan.
• Reboost Partners Inc. Reboost uses an AI-enabled medical device to estimate bone density from chest X-rays to improve detection and treatment of osteoporosis. The company is based in Tokyo.
• Smart Opinion Inc. Smart Opinion developed an AI imaging system to assist in the early detection of breast cancer, both through mammography and sonography, improving diagnostic accuracy. The company is based in Tokyo.
• Smile Curve Smile Curve is developing a noninvasive screening system for early detection of scoliosis which is commonly issued during the growth of adolescents. The company is based in Tokyo.
• Southwood Inc. Southwood aims to provide portable echocardiogram and ultrasound diagnostic tools, enabling patients to receive an examination with a physician specialist anytime, anywhere. The company is based in Tokushima, Japan.
• Splink Inc. To support cognitive function testing and dementia diagnosis, Splink developed AI tools for MRI visualization and analysis tools for brain healthcare. The company is based in Tokyo.
• Ubie Inc. Ubie leverages its cutting-edge AI symptom checker to benefit consumers, providers and pharmacists. They globally guide 10 million consumers to appropriate healthcare and also support 1,700 hospitals and clinics for better clinical outcomes. The company is based in Tokyo.
• YStory Inc. To provide support for women with menopause, YStory developed a platform that uses AI to assist in symptom tracking, provide educational materials and build community (currently undergoing clinical trial testing). The company is based in Tokyo.
• Yuimedi Inc. Yuimedi's YuiQuery is an AI-powered assistant that streamlines data extraction, unifies knowledge and ensures data governance for medical teams and data scientists. The company is based in Tokyo and Boston.

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About Mayo Clinic Platform
Founded on Mayo Clinic's dedication to patient-centered care, Mayo Clinic Platform enables new knowledge, new solutions and new technologies through collaborations with health technology innovators to create a healthier world. To learn more, visit Mayo Clinic Platform at www.mayoclinicplatform.org.

About JETRO
JETRO, or the Japan External Trade Organization, is a government-related organization that works to promote mutual trade and investment between Japan and the rest of the world. Originally established in 1958 to promote Japanese exports abroad, JETRO's core focus in the 21st century has shifted toward promoting foreign direct investment into Japan and helping small to medium size Japanese firms and startups maximize their global export potential.

Media contacts:

• Kaitlin Haar, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu
• JETRO, su-support@je3tro.go.jp

The post Mayo Clinic Platform_Accelerate and JETRO Japan join forces with U.S. Healthcare Immersion Program appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

“We are deeply grateful to Lou and Robin Gerstner for their long-standing friendship and support,” says Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., Mayo Clinic's president and CEO. “Lou’s remarkable generosity over many years has been instrumental in pushing the boundaries of innovation, allowing us to deliver the best care to our patients. This gift further empowers our clinicians to lead practice-changing advancements in healthcare through the strategic and ethical application of AI.”

Mr. Gerstner’s philanthropy to Mayo Clinic is driven by his commitment to fostering innovation, entrepreneurship, bold thinking and cutting-edge research to benefit patients. As the former chairman and CEO of IBM, Mr. Gerstner understands the power of investing in talented and motivated professionals amid a technical revolution.

"AI holds incredible promise for the future of medicine, but it takes more than just algorithms to make that promise a reality,” says Mr. Gerstner. “It requires a commitment to innovation and to the talented individuals who can turn theory into practice. By creating the Gerstner Scholars Program at Mayo Clinic, we ensure that clinicians with patient-first strategies have what they need to redefine what’s possible in healthcare."

Mayo Clinic established Mayo Clinic Platform, the first true platform in healthcare, in part to advance AI innovations globally and ensure these solutions reach patients everywhere. Mayo Clinic Platform is enabling the development and integration of AI solutions in a massively scalable and meaningful way, with more than 250 AI solutions in use or under development at Mayo Clinic alone. Supported by the world’s largest privacy-protected global dataset, these solutions focus on enhancing early disease detection, improving treatment accuracy and supporting diagnostics. Mayo Clinic is a leader in responsible and ethical AI and is committed to patient-centric solutions, with rigorous safety, regulatory and privacy measures, including physician oversight of all patient care solutions.

The Gerstner Scholars Program will accelerate these advancements by providing critical funding and dedicated time for clinicians to pursue high-impact AI projects across Mayo Clinic and ensure more AI-powered solutions are available to patients.

“Mayo Clinic is a leader in artificial intelligence in healthcare because we are able to translate innovation into real solutions for our patients earlier in their care journeys,” says Matthew R. Callstrom, M.D., Ph.D., Mayo Clinic’s medical director for Strategy, chair of Radiology in Rochester, and leader of the Generative Artificial Intelligence Program. “We are profoundly grateful to Mr. Gerstner for this visionary gift. The Gerstner Scholars Program empowers us to stay at the forefront of healthcare transformation by investing in our world-leading staff.”

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About Mr. Gerstner
Louis V. Gerstner Jr. served as CEO and chairman of the board of International Business Machines Corp. from 1993 to 2002. Mr. Gerstner subsequently joined The Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm, where he served as chairman and, upon retiring from that position, continued as a senior adviser through 2016.

Before joining IBM, Mr. Gerstner served as chairman and CEO of RJR Nabisco, Inc., president of the American Express Company, and a director of the management consulting firm McKinsey & Co., Inc. A native of Mineola, New York, Mr. Gerstner received a bachelor's degree in engineering from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

The Gerstner family is a long-standing supporter of Mayo Clinic, funding research and education initiatives and the Gerstner Family Career Development Awards in Mayo Clinic’s Center for Individualized Medicine. In recognition of his work on behalf of public education and his business accomplishments, Mr. Gerstner was awarded the designation of honorary Knight of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2001.

About Mayo Clinic 
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research and to providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news.

Media contact:

• Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

The post Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. family donates $25 million to establish Gerstner Scholars Program in AI Translation at Mayo Clinic appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.