Researchers at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and Maccabi Healthcare Services have developed new technology that will custom tailor antibiotics to the individual needs of patients, reducing the risk that the treatment will be compromised by an ineffective strain.
The study was published in Nature Medicine this week and was the product of a collaboration between Professor Varda Shalev, who is the head of the Kahn-Sagol-Maccabi Research and Innovation Institute and Technion researchers Professor Roy Kishony and Dr. Idan Yelin.
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One of the challenges modern medicine faces is coping with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. It is estimated that some 3,000 to 5,000 Israelis die each year in hospitals after being infected by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
The overuse of antibiotics can also lead to bacteria developing new resistance to antibiotics, and lose their effectivity. One way to prevent the development of resistant bacteria is to reduce the repetitive use of antibiotics in medical treatments. Infections caused by antibiotic overuse may not only develop resistance but may become "treatment-resistant and deadly," the study said.
By using artificial intelligence along with patient data, scientists would be able to engineer specific antibiotics, catering them to each patient's needs.
"It is now possible to computationally predict the level of bacterial resistance for infection-causing bacteria," Yelin said. "This is done by weighing of demographic data, including age, gender, pregnancy … together with levels of resistance [which are] measured in the patient's previous urine cultures as well as their drug purchase history."
This unique breakthrough in Israeli medicine will also pave the way for additional artificial intelligence use in medical fields.
