Stickler Syndrome, Type 1

Physician-scientists at UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh found a way to use AI to accurately diagnose ear infections. The AI-powered smartphone app that diagnoses acute otitis media (AOM) could help decrease unnecessary antibiotic use in young children. Researchers published their outcomes in JAMA Pediatrics. AOM commonly has antibiotics prescribed to treat it, but can prove difficult to discern from other ear conditions without intensive training. This AI tool makes a diagnosis by assessing a short video of the eardrum captured by an otoscope connected to a smartphone camera. The researchers say this offers a simple and effective solution with potentially more accuracy than trained clinicians’ diagnoses. “Acute otitis media is often incorrectly diagnosed,” said senior author Dr. Alejandro Hoberma, professor of pediatrics and director of the Division of General Academic Pediatrics at Pitt’s School of Medicine and president of UPMC Children’s Community Pediatrics. “Underdiagnosis results in inadequate care and overdiagnosis results in unnecessary antibiotic treatment, which can compromise the effectiveness of currently available antibiotics. Our tool helps get the correct diagnosis and guide the right treatment.” Hoberman says about 70% of children have an ear infection before their first birthday. Despite the common nature of the condition, accurate diagnosis requires a trained eye. To develop a practical tool that improves accuracy, Hoberman and his team began by building and annotating a training library of 1,151 videos of the tympanic membrane from 635 children who visited outpatient UPMC pediatric offices between 2018 and 2023. Two trained experts reviewed the videos and made a diagnosis. Using 921 videos from the training library, the team taught two different AI models to detect AOM by looking at the features of the tympanic membrane. Features include shape, position, color and translucency. The remaining 230 videos helped to test how the models performed. Both models proved highly accurate, with sensitivity and specificity values totaling greater than 93%. Hoberman says previous studies of clinician diagnoses demonstrated accuracy ranging from 30% to 84%, depending on type of health care provider, level of training and age of the children being examined. “These findings suggest that our tool is more accurate than many clinicians,” said Hoberman. “It could be a game-changer in primary health care settings to support clinicians in stringently diagnosing AOM and guiding treatment decisions. “Another benefit of our tool is that the videos we capture can be stored in a patient’s medical record and shared with other providers,” said Hoberman. “We can also show parents and trainees — medical students and residents — what we see and explain why we are or are not making a diagnosis of ear infection. It is important as a teaching tool and for reassuring parents that their child is receiving appropriate treatment.” Hoberman hopes that the technology could soon be implemented widely across healthcare provider offices to enhance accurate diagnosis of AOM and support treatment decisions.

A new cell phone app developed by physician-scientists, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to accurately diagnose ear infections, or acute otitis media (AOM), could help decrease unnecessary antibiotic use in young children, according to new research. A new cellphone app developed by physician-scientists at UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to accurately diagnose ear infections, or acute otitis media (AOM), could help decrease unnecessary antibiotic use in young children, according to new research published today in JAMA Pediatrics. AOM is one of the most common childhood infections for which antibiotics are prescribed but can be difficult to discern from other ear conditions without intensive training. The new AI tool, which makes a diagnosis by assessing a short video of the ear drum captured by an otoscope connected to a cellphone camera, offers a simple and effective solution that could be more accurate than trained clinicians. "Acute otitis media is often incorrectly diagnosed," said senior author Alejandro Hoberman, M.D., professor of pediatrics and director of the Division of General Academic Pediatrics at Pitt's School of Medicine and president of UPMC Children's Community Pediatrics. "Underdiagnosis results in inadequate care and overdiagnosis results in unnecessary antibiotic treatment, which can compromise the effectiveness of currently available antibiotics. Our tool helps get the correct diagnosis and guide the right treatment." According to Hoberman, about 70% of children have an ear infection before their first birthday. Although this condition is common, accurate diagnosis of AOM requires a trained eye to detect subtle visual findings gained from a brief view of the ear drum on a wriggly baby. AOM is often confused with otitis media with effusion, or fluid behind the ear, a condition that generally does not involve bacteria and does not benefit from antimicrobial treatment. To develop a practical tool to improve accuracy in the diagnosis of AOM, Hoberman and his team started by building and annotating a training library of 1,151 videos of the tympanic membrane from 635 children who visited outpatient UPMC pediatric offices between 2018 and 2023. Two trained experts with extensive experience in AOM research reviewed the videos and made a diagnosis of AOM or not AOM. "The ear drum, or tympanic membrane, is a thin, flat piece of tissue that stretches across the ear canal," said Hoberman. "In AOM, the ear drum bulges like a bagel, leaving a central area of depression that resembles a bagel hole. In contrast, in children with otitis media with effusion, no bulging of the tympanic membrane is present." The researchers used 921 videos from the training library to teach two different AI models to detect AOM by looking at features of the tympanic membrane, including shape, position, color and translucency. Then they used the remaining 230 videos to test how the models performed. Both models were highly accurate, producing sensitivity and specificity values of greater than 93%, meaning that they had low rates of false negatives and false positives. According to Hoberman, previous studies of clinicians have reported diagnostic accuracy of AOM ranging from 30% to 84%, depending on type of health care provider, level of training and age of the children being examined. "These findings suggest that our tool is more accurate than many clinicians," said Hoberman. "It could be a gamechanger in primary health care settings to support clinicians in stringently diagnosing AOM and guiding treatment decisions." "Another benefit of our tool is that the videos we capture can be stored in a patient's medical record and shared with other providers," said Hoberman. "We can also show parents and trainees -- medical students and residents -- what we see and explain why we are or are not making a diagnosis of ear infection. It is important as a teaching tool and for reassuring parents that their child is receiving appropriate treatment." Hoberman hopes that their technology could soon be implemented widely across health care provider offices to enhance accurate diagnosis of AOM and support treatment decisions. Other authors on the study were Nader Shaikh, M.D., Shannon Conway, Timothy Shope, M.D., Mary Ann Haralam, C.R.N.P., Catherine Campese, C.R.N.P., and Matthew Lee, all of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh; Jelena Kova?evi?, Ph.D., of New York University; Filipe Condessa, Ph.D., of Bosch Center for Artificial Intelligence; and Tomas Larsson, M.Sc, and Zafer Cavdar, both of Dcipher Analytics. This research was supported by the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

CINCINNATI, Aug. 28, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blue Water Biotech, Inc. (“Blue Water” or the “Company”), a biotechnology and pharmaceutical company spanning multiple sectors, today announced that it received a delinquency notification letter (“Notice”) from the Listing Qualifications staff of the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) on August 22, 2023 due to the Company’s non-compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) as a result of the Company’s failure to timely file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2023 (the “Form 10-Q”). Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) requires listed companies to timely file all required periodic financial reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The Notice states that the Company has 60 calendar days to submit to Nasdaq a plan to regain compliance with the Nasdaq Listing Rules. If Nasdaq accepts the Company’s plan, then Nasdaq may grant the Company up to 180 calendar days from the prescribed due date for filing the Form 10-Q or until February 20, 2024, to regain compliance. If Nasdaq does not accept the Company’s plan, then the Company will have the opportunity to appeal that decision to a Nasdaq Hearings Panel. As previously disclosed, the Company requires additional time to prepare, review and finalize its financial statements. The Company is working diligently to complete the Form 10-Q as soon as practicable, but due to the ongoing review of Company employee expenditures and the classification thereof, as previously announced in a Form 8-K filed on August 22, 2023, the Company is not currently in a position to advise when the Form 10-Q will be filed. This announcement is made in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(b). About Blue Water Biotech Blue Water Biotech, Inc. is a biotechnology and pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing transformational therapies to address significant health challenges globally. Headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, the Company owns ENTADFI®, an FDA-approved, once daily pill that combines finasteride and tadalafil for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. This combination allows men to receive treatment for their symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia without the negative sexual side effects typically seen in patients on finasteride alone. The Company is also in the process of acquiring the approved therapies from WraSer, LLC, and Xspire Pharma, LLC, including ZONTIVITY® (reduction of thrombotic cardiovascular events in patients with myocardial infarction or with peripheral arterial disease), OTOVEL® (acute otitis media with tympanostomy tubes), CETRAXAL® (acute otitis externa), CONJUPRI® (hypertension), TREZIX™ (moderate to severe pain) and NALFON® (NSAID treatment for pain and inflammation). The Company also has a robust preclinical vaccine pipeline. Blue Water holds the rights to proprietary technology developed at the University of Oxford, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Blue Water is developing a Streptococcus pneumoniae vaccine candidate, designed to specifically prevent highly infectious middle ear infections, known as AOM, in children, and prevention of pneumonia in the elderly. The Company is also developing a universal flu vaccine that will provide protection from all virulent strains in addition to licensing a novel norovirus S&P nanoparticle versatile virus-like particle vaccine platform from Cincinnati Children’s to develop vaccines for multiple infectious diseases, including Marburg and monkeypox, among others. Additionally, the Company is developing a Chlamydia vaccine candidate with UT Health Science Center San Antonio to prevent infection and reduce the need for antibiotic treatment associated with contracting Chlamydia disease. For more information about Blue Water, visit www.bwbioinc.com. Media Contact Information:Blue Water Media RelationsTelephone: (646) 942-5591Email: Nic.Johnson@russopartnersllc.com Investor Contact Information:Blue Water Investor RelationsEmail: investors@bwbioinc.com