A deep-learning model for quantifying circulating tumour DNA from the density distribution of DNA-fragment lengths.

The quantification of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) in blood enables non-invasive surveillance of cancer progression. Here we show that a deep-learning model can accurately quantify ctDNA from the density distribution of cell-free DNA-fragment lengths. We validated the model, which we named 'Fragle', by using low-pass whole-genome-sequencing data from multiple cancer types and healthy control cohorts.

Does robotic assisted surgery mitigate obesity related systemic inflammatory response and clinical outcomes in left sided colorectal cancer resections?

Obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m) is rapidly increasing worldwide with 26% of the UK population being obese and 38% being overweight. Obesity is intimately related to several life-limiting conditions including colorectal cancer (CRC). Obese patients have a higher degree of perioperative systemic inflammatory response (SIR) and an increased risk of perioperative complications.

Computer-Aided Lung Auscultation Screening and Radiographic Evaluation of Pediatric Pneumonia.

While chest auscultations provide an accessible and low-cost tool for pediatric pneumonia diagnosis, its subjectivity and low reliability continues to hinder its inclusion in global pneumonia guidelines; eventhough more robust tools like chest radiography also suffer from cost and accessibility issues. Advances in computer-aided analytics is offering more robust tools for interpreting digital auscultation signals though little has been done to explore variations of lung sounds across different chest positions and the correspondence between auscultations and specific radiographic findings. The present study explores interpretation of lung auscultations across chest positions in a pediatric pneumonia population, using a deep neural network classification of normal and abnormal breathing patterns.

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Outcomes: COVID-19 Pneumonia vs Non-COVID-19 Pneumonia.

Background: COVID-19 can cause severe acute respiratory distress syndrome or myocardial dysfunction requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Whether comorbidities or sociodemographic factors influence outcomes in these patients is unclear.

Methods: Adult patients from the National Inpatient Sample dataset with COVID-19 pneumonia or non-COVID-19 pneumonia who underwent ECMO between 2016 and 2021 were included.