LYME WESTERN BLOT INTERPRETIVE SOFTWARE

开发软件程序的解释莱姆蛋白质印迹。 该程序将分析数码相机扫描的Western Blot条带模式，并将测试结果解释为阳性或阴性。将采取两种并行的、相互竞争的方法：一种基于波段数据的统计分析，另一种基于神经网络模型。该统计程序将纳入CDC/ASTPHLD对莱姆蛋白质印迹的解释标准，并将提供比人类解释者更大的客观性。相比之下，神经网络程序能够“学习”并提高其性能，并将通过分析大量的阳性和阴性样本来制定自己的解释标准。因此，神经网络有望在莱姆蛋白质印迹解释中超越人类的准确性，并为开发其他诊断蛋白质印迹的解释能力提供了平台。该程序将在免疫学公司的CodaVision（TM）分析仪上实施，这是一种能够在30分钟内进行32次Western印迹分析的全自动仪器。该软件程序将解决莱姆病蛋白质印迹法判读中的主观性、读片者与读片者之间的不一致性和分析间变异性等问题，这些问题限制了其作为常规临床试验的使用。拟议的商业应用：用于解释莱姆蛋白质印迹测试的拟议软件将向依赖自动化执行复杂测试的常规临床实验室开放这种高度准确的技术。与Immunetics的CodaVision仪器一起提供，它将满足对准确莱姆病检测日益增长的需求。作为市场上第一个这样的全自动系统，预计它将迅速成为莱姆病检测的商业标准。

The development of software programs for the interpretation of Lyme Western Blots is proposed. The programs will analyze Western Blot band patterns scanned by a digital camera and interpret the test result as positive or negative. Two parallel, competing approaches will be taken: one based on statistical analysis of band data and the other on a neural network model. The statistical program will incorporate the CDC/ASTPHLD interpretive criteria for Lyme Western Blots, and will offer greater objectivity than a human interpreter. In contrast, the neural network program is capable of "learning" and improving its performance, and will develop its own criteria for interpretation through the analysis of large numbers of positive and negative samples. The neural network thus promises to surpass human accuracy in Lyme Western Blot interpretation, and provides a platform with which to develop interpretive capability for other diagnostic western blots. The program will be implemented on Immunetics' CodaVision(TM) analyzer, a fully automated instrument capable of performing 32 Western Blot assays in 30 minutes. This software program will resolve the issues of subjectivity, reader-to--reader inconsistency and interassay variability in the interpretation of Lyme Western Blots which have constrained their use as routine clinical tests. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: The proposed software for interpretation of Lyme Western Blot tests will open this highly accurate technique to routine clinical laboratories which depend on automation to perform sophisticated tests. Offered together with Immunetics' CodaVision instrument, it will meet the growing demand for accurate Lyme disease testing. As the first such fully automated system on the market, it is anticipated that it will rapidly become the commercial standard for Lyme disease testing.