Paper on platelet analysis of COVID-19 patients has been published in Nature Communications. We are working on the commercialization of this research result.
Our image-based analysis of blood samples from COVID-19 patients revealed the presence of high levels of circulating platelet aggregates. The results of the study have been published in Nature Communications.¹ This work was led by Professor Keisuke Goda in the Department of Chemistry and Professor Yutaka Yatomi in the Graduate School of Medicine, both at the University of Tokyo. CYBO signed a joint research agreement with the University of Tokyo in February 2021 to commercialize this study. Details about this work can be found in the press release from the University of Tokyo.²
We currently develop a method for analyzing platelet aggregates that combines high-speed imaging and big-data analysis, which was also used in this study, for the purpose of commercializing it. We aim to implement the platelet aggregate analysis function on the SHIGI platform we are currently developing and spread this technology worldwide. With the support of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Advanced Medical Devices Acceleration Project (AMDAP), we are working on the development of this technology as a medical device.
Platelet activation is known to be involved in atherothrombosis such as stroke and heart attack. Atherothrombosis occurs when an atherosclerotic plaque collapses, forming blood clots and blocking blood vessels, and platelet activation and aggregation play a major role in this process. Although it would be beneficial to diagnose the risk of thrombosis by measuring the platelet activation status in the body, such a measurement has been difficult because platelets are difficult to handle experimentally and can be easily activated by external stimuli. Measuring platelet aggregates by analyzing blood images is promising as a method for detecting platelet activation in the body, and the results of this COVID-19 work have shown strong evidence for its utility.
We expect that the commercialization of this technology will enable real-time testing of various platelet-related thrombosis, such as stroke, heart attack, and COVID-19-related thrombosis, and advance understanding of the disease mechanism.
- M. Nishikawa, et al., Massive image-based single-cell profiling reveals high levels of circulating platelet aggregates in patients with COVID-19
- Press Release “Platelets to predict severity risk of COVID-19 (Japanese text).” School of Science, The University of Tokyo (December 9, 2021)