Japanese researchers have unveiled an AI-based technology which, they say, can help monitor platelet activity in the blood in real time.
As part of the work, the researchers found that blood drawn from veins in the arm can provide vital information about platelet activity in arteries.
The technology involves a frequency-division multiplexed microscope – which takes sharp pictures of blood in motion, capturing thousands of images a second. The AI system then analyses this, identifying aggregates of platelets and different blood cells.
Researcher Yuqi Zhou, an assistant professor of chemistry at University of Tokyo, said: “Just like traffic cameras capture every car on the road, our microscope captures thousands of images of blood cells in motion every second. We then use artificial intelligence to analyse those images. The AI can tell whether it’s looking at a single platelet, a clump of platelets, or even a white blood cell tagging along.”
Reporting in Nature Communications, the researchers tell how they tested the technology on 200 people diagnosed with coronary artery disease. The system showed that patients with acute coronary syndrome have more platelet aggregates than those with chronic symptoms.
They say that a venous blood draw from the arm provided nearly the same information as blood obtained from the arteries – potentially making the process of understanding what’s happening in the arteries safer and much less invasive.
The researchers hope their technology will help doctors adapt and personalise treatments.
First author of the study Dr Kazutoshi Hirose, from the University of Tokyo, said: “Just like some people need more or less of a painkiller depending on their body, we found that people respond differently to antiplatelet drugs. In fact, some patients are affected by recurrent thrombosis and others are suffering from recurrences of bleeding events even on the same antiplatelet medications.
“Our technology can help doctors see how each individual’s platelets are behaving in real time. That means treatments could be adjusted to better match each person’s needs.”
Source:
Hirose K, Kodera S, Nishikawa M, Sato M, Zhou Y, Zhang H, Minatsuki S, Ishida J, Takeda N, Wang H, Kong C, Deng Y, Chen J, Zhang C, Akita J, Ibayashi Y, Yang R, Kanno H, Nitta N, Sugimura T, Takeda N, Kurano M, Yatomi Y, Goda K. (2025) “Direct evaluation of antiplatelet therapy in coronary artery disease by comprehensive image-based profiling of circulating platelets.” Nature Communications, 15 May 2025, doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-59664-8.
Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59664-8
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