New rapid asthma test: a drop of blood is enough

Lisa Vogel studied departmental journalism with a focus on medicine and biosciences at Ansbach University and deepened her journalistic knowledge in the master's degree in multimedia information and communication. This was followed by a traineeship in the editorial team. Since September 2020 she has been writing as a freelance journalist for

More posts by Lisa Vogel All content is checked by medical journalists.

A new rapid test is supposed to make the tricky asthma diagnosis easier: just a drop of blood reveals enough to expose the respiratory disease.

A tightness in the chest, attacks of shortness of breath, coughing and breathing noises: In adults, a doctor usually recognizes asthma by describing the symptoms. Diagnosis is often difficult in children, especially young ones.

They also often suffer from other forms of airway inflammation, for example due to infections. These are difficult to distinguish from real asthma. They are also often too young for a lung function test.

A research team led by Dr. Daniel Rapoport from the Fraunhofer Institute for Marine Biotechnology and Cell Technology has developed a completely new test method for asthma. A single drop of blood is enough for the analysis.

Immune cells slowed down in asthma

With a newly developed special microscope, the researchers record the movements of certain immune cells in the patient's blood: the neutrophils. The researchers already knew from previous studies that these white blood cells are noticeably sluggish in asthma patients.

The reason for the slowdown could be that the lower airways (bronchi) in asthmatics are permanently inflamed. Your immune system is, so to speak, under constant stress. “We suspect that the cells are less alerted to an inflammation because they are used to it to a certain extent,” explains Rapoport.

Artificial intelligence recognizes suspicious movement patterns

The high-performance microscope that researchers use can observe 2,000 to 3,000 cells in a drop of blood in real time. The movement of the neutrophils is evaluated with the help of a program based on artificial intelligence. Using around 200 blood samples, the program had previously learned to recognize the cell movement pattern of asthma sufferers. It can differentiate between the blood of asthmatics and that of healthy people.

Result after 60 to 90 minutes

The computer needs 60 to 90 minutes for this. Then there is a result. However, it is not yet clear how precise the rapid test is for its diagnosis. To determine this, the research team needs more blood samples from asthmatics. Thanks to the artificial intelligence used, the program is also constantly learning and working more and more reliably.

“We are still in the middle of developing this method,” says Daniel Rapoport, “we cannot yet say whether we can obtain approval”. Rapoport estimates that the test could be marketable in around three to four years.

Early diagnosis is important!

An early diagnosis of asthma in childhood is particularly important. If left untreated, the disease continues to worsen and can permanently damage the lungs. In addition, there may be developmental and growth disorders in the small patients.

Bronchial asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways, often associated with an allergy. The bronchi react over-sensitive to actually harmless stimuli. They constrict, swell and produce excessive mucus. The person concerned can no longer breathe unhindered, up to massive breathlessness in the event of an asthma attack.

More than one in ten children has asthma

Asthma affects more and more children in Germany.Ten to 15 percent of children are now suffering from it. Asthma only goes away on its own in about 40 percent of cases.

Parents should pay attention if the children get breathless after a short time while romping or if they withdraw from strenuous activities. Other possible early symptoms are wheezing when breathing (wheezing), problems breathing out and a tightness in the chest. Persistent coughing is also typical, especially at night or when the child is exerting themselves.

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