It’s a screening technique that could revolutionize the treatment of endometriosis. As reported by the New England Journal of Medicine in an article spotted by BFMTV, a Lyon-based start-up has developed a new saliva test that would detect if a patient is suffering from this disease, which affects 1.5 to 2 million women in France. Thanks to these convincing results, this revolutionary test could be brought to market.
During the test, a sample of saliva is placed in a tube and then analyzed and sent to the laboratory. The data is then examined by an artificial intelligence. “The advantage of artificial intelligence is that, through its calculation methodologies and through its learning, it will go much faster than humans. […] She is able to go and see signatures that we could not go to see, ”said Yannick Marie, engineer in biological engineering, who developed this test.
According to the researchers, this experiment would help diagnose the disease within days, and even hours, whereas today the first symptoms are detected only between five and ten years after their appearance. In France, the test is not yet marketed, but a survey, which was carried out on 200 patients, proved the ease and speed of the device.
“It’s promising, we believe in it a lot,” said Érick Petit, radiologist and specialist in endometriosis. “I think it’s an interesting alternative that will open up a lot of research opportunities. There, we worked on well-confirmed cases of endometriosis already, but, in the long term, the goal is to be able to clearly identify any patient, whatever her type, “he adds.
Endometriosis is a gynecological disease caused by the presence of endometrial cells outside the uterus. It can cause sharp pain in the pelvis and difficulty getting pregnant.
