Monitoring of lung infections

The invention consists in the use of low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) for the monitoring of patients affected by cystic fibrosis (CF). The method makes it possible to indirectly evaluate the pulmonary function of patients with CF by analyzing a sample of sputum; the result is immediate and allows you to intervene immediately in the event of an infection, in order to prevent further lung damage.

Cystic fibrosis (CF), the most frequent genetic disease in Caucasian populations, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have in common the presence of a very viscous pulmonary mucus, due to the pathological increase in the concentration of substances such as proteins, alginates, white blood cells (index of infection), bacteria and mucins. This entails the onset of an inflammatory state due to reduced lung functionality (most CF patients die of respiratory failure). CF and COPD represent a significant health and social burden due to the number of affected patients and management costs, mainly related to constant monitoring of lung function / inflammation.

The starting point is to spread the proposed technique among public hospitals and private centers affiliated with the NHS that carry out tests on lung function / inflammation.

The proposed technique for evaluating lung function / inflammation represents a rapid, simple, reliable and low-cost approach suitable for very frequent monitoring of lung status. Indeed, very often, it is necessary to be able to have very rapid feedback (during day-hospital visits, for example) on the effect of the prescribed antibiotic therapy. The evaluation of T2m aims precisely to meet this need for speed by means of a low-cost and remarkably simple technique that does not require the employement of particularly experienced technicians.