Personalised medicine is a model of practicing medicine which involves disease diagnosis and choosing an optimal therapy based on the unique biological and physiological makeup of an individual. In theory, personalised medicine should radically improve the clinical outcome because it is so much more person-focussed. In reality, however, the practice of personalised medicine is currently far below satisfactory, mainly because of a lack of means and tools to accurately determine all of these aspects in an individual.
In patients with autoimmune diseases, early diagnosis and early intervention are essential for a more positive clinical outcome. Additionally, predicting a patient’s response prior to administration of a treatment can also improve the treatment’s odds. For both diagnosis of a disease and prediction of the patient’s response, it is absolutely imperative to have a level of assessment of a patient’s immune system function which prior to now has been difficult to achieve (Sticky Cells and Autoimmune Disease) predominantly because of a lack of sophisticated-enough technology.
To address the shortfall in technology, StickyCell have developed a novel platform called Leukocyte Adhesive Function Assay (LAFA), which gives an accurate and quantitative assessment of immune system function. LAFA uses advanced microfluidic technology to mimic blood microcirculation in vitro, providing an immediate assessment of leukocyte “stickiness” under physiological conditions (Sticky Cells and Leukocyte Recruitment). LAFA also produces a wide range of novel biomarkers to characterize an individual’s immune status, which conventional methods are simply not able to do.
With the ability to monitor immune system activation, LAFA offers a life-changing tool to advance the practice of personalized medicine. It does so by recognising early signs of disease in the immune system and by differentiating, in patients, between drug responders and non-responders. In a future post, we will provide examples of how LAFA can be used in a clinical setting.
Key points:
An accurate assessment of immune system function is essential for practicing personalised medicine in individuals with autoimmune diseases. Current technology is lacking in this regard.
StickyCell’s novel platform, named Leukocyte Adhesive Function Assay (LAFA), can quantitatively assess immune system function, by directly measuring the leukocyte “stickiness”.
LAFA platform offers a unique and life-changing tool to practice personalised medicine in people with autoimmune diseases.