This new blood test, called LymeSeek, works differently by detecting 10 different antigens simultaneously. An algorithm developed using deep learning “sorts through all of the responses,” explained Holly Ahern, MS, MT, the chief scientific officer of ACES Diagnostics, the company developing LymeSeek, in Paradise Valley, Arizona. “That is what gives the test its very high sensitivity and specificity,” she said. Ahern is also an associate professor of microbiology at State University of New York at Adirondack (SUNY Adirondack) in Queensbury, New York.
To validate the test, developers analyzed the human serum samples of 150 control individuals and 158 Lyme disease cases, across all phases of Lyme disease. Samples were provided by the Lyme Disease Biobank, the CDC, and the Johns Hopkins University Lyme Disease Research Center in Baltimore. The control samples were from patients in endemic and nonendemic areas and included individuals with non-Lyme look-like diseases, like mononucleosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
The test correctly classified 281 samples as Lyme cases or control individuals, resulting in a test sensitivity of 91.7% and a specificity of 90.7%.
Posted by aklnwlf (Member # 5960) on :
Looks promising.
Posted by hiker53 (Member # 6046) on :
I hope this gets to the public quickly. Game changer.
Posted by MADDOG (Member # 18) on :
And a big thanks to you Ann for this information. MADDOG
Posted by Phoiph (Member # 41238) on :
"The control samples were from patients in endemic and nonendemic areas and included individuals with non-Lyme look-like diseases, like mononucleosis and rheumatoid arthritis."
I'm wondering how they can ensure that the control group doesn't have undetected Lyme, since Lyme can't be ruled out by sero-testing, and often Epstein-Barr, RA and Lyme coexist.
If the control group has undetected Lyme, it would mean that the new test is also missing those cases.
At least it sounds like a step in the right direction. Hopefully with AI assisting, testing will continue to improve.