The Science & Technology desk gathers a weekly digest with impactful and interesting research publications and developments at Stanford. Read the latest in this week’s Research Roundup.
Using AI to detect subtypes of Type II Diabetes
Around 13% of the U.S. population has been diagnosed with diabetes, which officially comes in two forms: Type I — which is diagnosed in childhood — and Type II, which develops later in life. However, just because some patients fall under the same type, the label doesn’t mean they have the same underlying reasons that led to the condition; numerous factors can account for diabetes, such as genetics, body weight and exercise.
In a study published in Nature on Dec. 23, Mike Snyder, lead author and former postdoctoral scholar at Stanford Medicine, along with his team of researchers, detailed their research using AI to help sub-classify Type II diabetes through a continuous glucose monitor, which is a device that can be worn to track blood sugar levels over certain periods of time. Examples of Type II subtypes include insulin resistance and lack of certain hormones.
The researchers tested this mechanism in another study of 54 participants, some who had prediabetes and some who did not, having the AI analyze the graph behavior, such as the peaks of the continuous glucose monitor, that corresponded to different Type II diabetes subtypes previously explored. This mechanism has been shown to identify the subtypes with a 90% accuracy.
Endocrinology Professor Tracey McLaughlin ’88 M.S. ’04 commented on the importance of this new development.
“This matters, because depending on what type you have, some drugs will work better than others,” McLaughlin told Stanford Medicine.
A new understanding of vaccine immunity
Why do some vaccines last in immunity for months while others, like the Influenza vaccine, do not? A recent paper published on Jan. 2, in Nature, led by Bali Pulendran, a professor of microbiology and immunity at Stanford, details a potential reason.
The study consisted of a group of participants who received either doses of a particular bird flu vaccine with the adjuvant – a substance responsible for enhancing the immune response by the body – and doses without it. Blood samples were collected periodically and finally the data was analyzed with machine learning.
From this data, the researchers hypothesized that megakaryocytes – platelet-producing cells – may be responsible for the level of immune response.
Pulendran followed up by giving mice the vaccine but this time included a drug that increases the number of megakaryocytes found in the bloodstream. Interestingly, this led to a dramatic increase in the number of antibodies, signaling a greater immune response.
Later research indicated that megakaryocytes produce molecules that effectively help the cells responsible for making antibodies stay healthy. As a result, vaccines with more megakaryocytes are associated with more antibodies.
Pulendran now has ideas for testing the duration of time that these antibodies will be present in the body.
“We could develop a simple PCR assay — a vaccine chip — that measures gene expression levels in the blood just a few days after someone is vaccinated”, Pulendran said to Stanford Medicine.
Simulating touch through a new haptic device
Researchers at Stanford Engineering have developed a pressure-based haptic sleeve that simulates realistic touch and provides more realism unlike others in the past that focused on vibration.
When designing the haptic sleeve, the researchers originally settled on a design that was battery-powered and able to be filled with air through inflatable pouches. However, they faced a conundrum: the pouches would press against skin with excessive force, which could make the sleeve feel uncomfortable if the material was too rough. Moreover, it would reduce what Cosima du Pasquier, the lead author and a postdoc in mechanical engineering at Stanford, referred to as the “inflation potential” of the haptic device.
“If you put air into a balloon next to your skin but don’t anchor it there, it’s going to expand in all directions. You’re going to waste most of the inflation potential,” Pasquier told Stanford Engineering.
Eventually, the researchers decided on a middle-ground idea: knit fabric. It would be sturdy enough to hold up against the skin but also be flexible enough to move easily.
Utilizing nylon and cotton, the sleeve was developed on a knitting machine. It was then heated to stiffen the fibers that composed the sleeve, making it much more sturdy.
There is a large area of further research that the researchers note can be done now that the haptic sleeve is designed.
“We can use this to start testing how people actually interpret and respond to this type of haptic information,” Allison Okamura, a Stanford mechanical engineering professor, said to Stanford Engineering.