Prototype Detects Rheumatoid Arthritis

As someone ages, they may notice that it is becoming more difficult to move their hands and other joints. Pain, tenderness, and swelling might start to occur around the knuckles and fingers. Concerned, they go to see a physician. 

After a physical exam and a battery of tests, they may be diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, a disease that affects over 1.3 million Americans between the ages of 30 and 60.

While family history and genetics play a significant role in whether or not an individual will develop rheumatoid arthritis in their lifetime, the disease itself can be difficult to diagnose. Although the disease can be present in the body as early as age 30, most people do not start to experience the signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis until they are in their 60s. For this reason, most people assume that rheumatoid arthritis is an older person’s disease, and do not take proactive steps to determine, reduce or delay RA symptoms. 

Diagnosis can be difficult

According to the Arthritis Foundation, no single test can confirm rheumatoid arthritis. The current method of diagnosis includes a number of steps, beginning with a physical exam, and testing for the presence of associated blood markers and antibodies in the body. The largest antibody indicator, a compound called anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP), can be found in up to 70% of cases of rheumatoid arthritis before symptoms begin to show.

To make a quicker diagnosis, doctors will often use x-ray, ultrasound, or an MRI to determine whether or not there is erosion or bone loss in the joints. X-rays emit damaging radioactive ions into the body, and MRIs are a costly test for an outcome that could be determined through other means, leaving ultrasound as the industry standard for diagnostic testing. Though ultrasound is the standard test for those suspected of having rheumatoid arthritis, the absence of joint damage according to the image delivered by an ultrasound does not rule out the disease. It might equally strongly be an indicator that the disease isn’t advanced enough yet to have cause any identifiable damage to the bones or joints.

The search for an easier and more definitive way to screen for rheumatoid arthritis has led researchers at the University of Twente in the Netherlands to invent a new diagnostic imaging device that can show the difference between healthy fingers, and arthritic fingers. The University and several of its European partners were able to successfully complete the first round of clinical trials with the device, the results of which were recently published in the Photoacoustics scientific journal.

Bringing two fields together

The prototype device developed by the University of Twente and its associates works by combining two fields of imaging into one. Researchers and engineers worked to combine ultrasound technology with photoacoustic technologies, hoping that the combined imaging technique would offer doctors a degree of objective insight into the degree of inflammation in joints previously unattainable through a single imaging technique like ultrasound.

Read on to learn more about this revolutionary discovery.