Novel breath test shows promise for diagnosing and monitoring bacterial infections

(Monday, 14 April 2025, Vienna, Austria) A pioneering study presented today at ESCMID Global 2025 has demonstrated that an AI-powered lung ultrasound outperforms human experts by 9% in diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis (TB).1 The ULTR-AI suite analyses images from portable, smartphone-connected ultrasound devices, offering a sputum-free, rapid, and scalable alternative for TB detection. The results exceed the World Health Organization (WHO) benchmarks for pulmonary tuberculosis diagnosis, marking a major opportunity for accessible and efficient TB triage. Despite previous global declines, TB rates rose by 4.6% from 2020 to 2023.2 Early ...

A research paper by scientists at Shanghai Jiao Tong University presented a novel channel-wise cumulative spike train image-driven model (cwCST-CNN) for hand gesture recognition. The research paper, published on Mar. 21, 2025 in the journal Cyborg and Bionic Systems, leverage a custom convolutional neural network (CNN) to extract both local and global features for classifying hand gestures, by decomposing high-density surface EMG (HD-sEMG) signals into channel-wise cumulative spike trains (cw-CSTs) ...

Parasitic infection and treatment linked to cancer-related gene activity in the cervix New research has revealed that Schistosoma haematobium (S. haematobium), a parasitic infection affecting millions globally, can trigger cancer-related gene activity in the cervical lining, with changes becoming even more pronounced after treatment.1 Presented today at ESCMID Global 2025, this pivotal study sheds new light on how this often-overlooked parasitic disease may contribute to cervical cancer risk at the molecular level. Schistosomiasis is a widespread parasitic disease, particularly prevalent in regions with poor access to clean water and sanitation.2 ...

A landmark study presented today at ESCMID Global 2025 has revealed that over 3 million children worldwide lost their lives in 2022 due to antimicrobial resistance (AMR)-related infections.1 The study underscores the urgent need for both regional and global strategies to control paediatric AMR, particularly in high-burden areas such as South-East Asia and Africa. AMR poses a critical threat to children, who are highly vulnerable to infections.2 Access to new antibiotic formulations is often much more limited for children because of product development delays. The study data found ...

New research to be presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2025, Malaga, Spain, 11-14 May) shows that the proportion of adolescents living with overweight or obesity in England has increased by 50% from 2008-2010 (22%) to 2021-2023 (33%). The research, presented in two studies, is by Dr Dinesh Giri, Consultant Paediatric Endocrinologist, Bristol Royal Hospital for Children and Honorary Senior Lecturer, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK, and Dr Senthil Senniappan, Consultant Paediatric Endocrinologist, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool, UK, and colleagues. Previous ...

The First International Conference on Cyborg and Bionic Systems (ICCBS 2025) will be held in Singapore, Republic of Singapore, from July 24 to July 26, 2025. This conference aims at providing a free, open, and diverse platform for experts, scholars, students and industry professionals from the fields of robotics, biomedical engineering, neural engineering, and related domains. The sponsor of the conference is Beijing Institute of Technology, and the organizer of the conference is the Journal Cyborg and Bionic Systems.   We look forward to welcoming experts, scholars and industry leaders from around ...

Breakthrough study identifies promising biomarker for early sepsis detection in neonates, children, and pregnant women A pioneering study presented today at ESCMID Global 2025 has uncovered the potential of interleukin-6 (IL-6) as a powerful diagnostic biomarker for the early detection of sepsis in high-risk patient groups, including neonates, children and pregnant women. This study is the first to evaluate IL-6’s diagnostic performance in a real-world cohort across all three populations.1 Sepsis, a life-threatening condition resulting from the immune system’s overreaction to infection, remains a leading global cause of mortality, accounting ...

New research to be presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2025, Malaga, Spain, 11-14 May) shows that around two thirds of participants of the SURMOUNT-1 trial had only regained 5% or less of their so-called nadir (or lowest weight) three years after beginning treatment with tirzepatide. The study is by Professor Louis Aronne, Comprehensive Weight Control Center, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA, and co-authors from Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN, USA, which funded the study. Obesity management is a long-term journey during which fluctuations ...

Once-weekly treatment with tirzepatide can produce clinically meaningful and sustained weight loss for at least 3 years in adults with overweight or obesity who do not have diabetes, according to new research being presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Malaga, Spain (11-14 May). The findings also indicate that females and those without obesity-related complications may be more responsive to tirzepatide treatment.   The study, led by Dr Luca Busetto from the University of Padova in Italy and colleagues from Eli Lilly and Company that manufacture tirzepatide, is a continuation of the SURMOUNT-1 phase 3 trial of tirzepatide, a medication approved in ...

Common respiratory condition nearly triples the risk of death in adults, new study finds A major study presented today at ESCMID Global 2025 has revealed that adults with respiratory syncytial virus-associated acute respiratory infection (RSV-ARI) face a 2.7-fold higher risk of death within one year compared to the general population.1 The findings underscore the significant, yet often under-recognised, long-term health and economic burden of RSV-ARI in adults, particularly among those with underlying conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma.  RSV-ARI refers ...