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AI FOR EARLY DETECTION OF SEPSIS

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WHAT IS SEPSIS?

 Sepsis occurs when chemicals released in the bloodstream to fight an infection trigger inflammation throughout the body. This can cause a cascade of changes that damage multiple organ systems, leading them to fail, sometimes even resulting in death.

Symptoms include fever, difficulty breathing, low blood pressure, fast heart rate, and mental confusion.

Treatment includes antibiotics and intravenous fluids.

SYMPTOMS

Symptoms of sepsis may include:

  • Change in mental status.

  • Fast, shallow breathing.

  • Sweating for no clear reason.

  • Feeling lightheaded.

  • Shivering.

  • Symptoms specific to the type of infection, such as painful urination from a urinary tract infection or worsening cough from pneumonia.

Symptoms of sepsis are not specific. They can vary from person to person, and sepsis may appear differently in children than in adults.

CAUSES

Any type of infection can lead to sepsis. This includes bacterial, viral, or fungal infections. Those that more commonly cause sepsis include infections of:

  • Lungs, such as pneumonia.

  • Kidney, bladder and other parts of the urinary system.

  • Digestive system.

  • Bloodstream.

  • Catheter sites.

  • Wounds or burns.

TREATMENT

Early, thorough treatment raises the likelihood of recovery. People who have sepsis need close monitoring and treatment in a hospital intensive care unit. This is because people with sepsis may need lifesaving measures to stabilize breathing and heart action.

Medications

Different medications are used in treating sepsis and septic shock. They include:

  • Antibiotics. Treatment with antibiotics begins as soon as possible. Broad-spectrum antibiotics, which are effective against a variety of bacteria, are often used first. When blood tests results show which germ is causing the infection, the first antibiotic may get switched out for a second one. This second one targets the germ causing the infection.

  • Fluids added to veins. The use of intravenous fluids begins as soon as possible.

  • Vasopressors. Vasopressors narrow blood vessels and help increase blood pressure. A vasopressor medication may be used if blood pressure is too low even after receiving fluids.

AI AID IN THE DETECTION PROCESS

Artificial intelligence (AI) has surfaced as a new tool that can help rapidly detect sepsis in patients. Using AI algorithms, the tool detects several key sepsis risk factors in real time by monitoring patients' electronic medical records as physicians input information. Flagging high-risk patients can help facilitate early intervention, which can improve outcomes, lower healthcare costs, and save lives.

“It is the first instance where AI is implemented at the bedside, used by thousands of providers, and where we’re seeing lives saved,” said Suchi Saria, founding research director of the Malone Center for Engineering in Healthcare at Johns Hopkins and lead author of the study.

Since 2016, sepsis is defined as a “life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection” . This definition replaces the previous definition from 1992 based on markers of systemic inflammation. The new definition of sepsis also replaces the old term “severe sepsis,” which was used to designate organ dysfunction caused by infection. The new definition provides a more accurate understanding of the pathophysiology of sepsis as well as more precise diagnostic criteria. Sepsis accompanied by circulatory failure is termed septic shock, the most severe form of sepsis. Together with the definition of sepsis, the recommendation for making a definitive diagnosis changed to “appropriate routine microbiologic cultures (including blood) be obtained before starting antimicrobial therapy in patients with suspected sepsis or septic shock if doing so results in no substantial delay in the start of antimicrobials”

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to deliver timely and accurate sepsis detection, potentially outperforming current clinical warning scores, which are not based on sophisticated mathematical models. Early prediction of sepsis could be achieved by developing a decision support system based on machine learning (ML) algorithms trained on patient data, usually based on electronic medical records, biomedical signals, or laboratory results.

Comments

  1. Suresh sahu7 April 2023 at 06:29

    This is good.keep up the good work. Waiting for your future work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Diwakar8 April 2023 at 09:07

    Chosen a very complex topic. It feels good to see young mind thinking towards making a better healthy society and working on its awareness. Congrats

    ReplyDelete

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