Complement Cascade Marker Monitoring for Pre-Symptomatic Infection Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems lack the ability to accurately predict the outcome of medical procedures, particularly surgery, by analyzing human immune system responses, which are crucial for early patient recovery assessment and infection detection.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that input patient complement cascade data to compare with cohort data, determining deviations in complement cascade marker levels over time to predict surgical outcomes, using Bayesian probability to differentiate between recovery and infection types, including Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacterial, viral, and fungal infections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If current systems are used to monitor patient recovery, then basic vital signs can be tracked, but accurate prediction of surgical outcomes and early detection of infections cannot be achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the monitoring parameters from basic vital signs to complement cascade marker levels (C3a, C4a, C5a, C3b, C4b, C5b) which are specific immune response indicators. This parameter change enables reliable prediction of surgical outcomes by measuring the actual immune system response to surgery and infection rather than general physiological states.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical/physical monitoring systems with a biochemical detection system that measures complement cascade markers in blood samples. This substitution enables detection of immune responses at the molecular level, providing precise measurement of infection and recovery states that mechanical systems cannot achieve.
2Reliability
If comprehensive immune system monitoring is implemented, then accurate outcome prediction is achieved, but system complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the immune response monitoring into distinct complement cascade pathways (classical pathway via C4a, alternative pathway via C3a, terminal pathway via C5a) and measures specific markers for each. This segmentation allows the complex immune system to be monitored through a manageable set of key markers that collectively provide comprehensive outcome prediction.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a multi-functional detection system that simultaneously monitors multiple complement markers to detect different types of infections (bacterial, viral, fungal), assess surgical recovery, and predict outcomes. This universal system replaces multiple separate monitoring approaches with a single integrated platform.
3Measurement precision
If traditional infection detection methods are used, then standard infections can be identified, but pre-symptomatic detection and differentiation of infection types cannot be achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary detection of complement cascade activation before clinical symptoms of infection appear. By measuring complement markers (C3a, C4a, C5a) that activate early in the immune response, the system detects infections pre-symptomatically, allowing earlier intervention than traditional methods that wait for clinical signs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the detection parameters from clinical symptoms to molecular biomarkers (complement cascade markers). This parameter change enables detection of infections at the molecular level before they manifest clinically, and allows differentiation of infection types based on specific marker patterns (e.g., C4a for classical pathway, C3a for alternative pathway activation).
Data Source
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Figure 2
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AI summary
We describe a system/method for predicting the outcome of a medical procedure on a patient. The system/method uses using complement cascade data representing levels of a set of complement cascade markers in the patient at a succession of peri-operative time intervals, determining deviations from a model of the response to provide a pre-symptomatic prediction of the outcome. In embodiments the complement cascade pathways include the lytic pathway and at least one of the lectin pathway, the classical pathway and the alternative pathway, and the biomarkers include at least C3. The system may include an electroluminescence or plasmon-resonance multianalyte detector to analyse a blood sample from the patient.