Development and validation of a mobile application based on a machine learning model to aid in predicting dosage of vitamin K antagonists among Indian patients post mechanical heart valve replacement

Patients who undergo heart valve replacements with mechanical valves need to take Vitamin K Antagonists (VKA) drugs (Warfarin, Nicoumalone) which has got a very narrow therapeutic range and needs very close monitoring using PT-INR. Accessibility to physicians to titrate drugs doses is a major problem in low-middle income countries (LMIC) like India. Our work was aimed at predicting the maintenance dosage of these drugs, using the de-identified medical data collected from patients attending an INR Clinic in South India. We used artificial intelligence (AI) - machine learning to develop the algorithm. A Support Vector Machine (SVM) regression model was built to predict the maintenance dosage of warfarin, who have stable INR values between 2.0 and 4.0. We developed a simple user friendly android mobile application for patients to use the algorithm to predict the doses. The algorithm generated drug doses in 1100 patients were compared to cardiologist prescribed doses and found to have an excellent correlation.

Synergistic activity of ofloxacin and ornidazole on biomedical fabrics against nosocomial pathogens.

Nosocomial infections in the hospitals disseminated from the cotton fabrics of health care professionals and patients leads to severe complications like respiratory, gastrointestinal and urinary tract infections. Since the hospital based textile materials like nylon and polyester has good surface properties, it can harbour large number of microorganisms. Hence in this study, two different antibacterial drugs showing synergistic properties were attached to different fabricsusing tocopherol acetate as a cross-linker with the aim that, treated fabric could act as barriers against transmission of challenge organisms. Inorder to decrease the drug resistant property of the nosocomial pathogens, a fluoroquinolone and a nitroimidazole compounds were mixed at suitable composition based on their synergistic behaviour. Both the compounds were modified to act as reactive dyes and were covalently bonded to the surface of nylon and polyester in order to impart antibacterial properties. The assay used for measuring antibacterial properties was based on the AATCC Test Method-100. The treated fabric was also subjected to multiple washings to determine its durability based on the AATCC Test Method-124. To determine the mode of action of these drugs, DNA of the drug exposed and unexposed challenge organisms were extracted and analysed by agarose gel electrophoresis. The difference in the number of viable bacteria after ‘0’ contact time and 18 hours contact time with treated fabrics were statistically calculated with P<0.05 considered significant.