Mayo Clinic researchers say that "teachable software" designed to mimic the human brain may help them diagnose cardiac infections without an invasive exam. Those findings are being presented today at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) in San Francisco.

"If, through this novel method, we can help determine a percentage of endocarditis diagnoses with a high rate of accuracy, we hope to save a significant number of patients from the discomfort, risk and expense of the standard diagnostic procedure," says M. Rizwan Sohail, M.D., a Mayo Clinic infectious diseases specialist and leader of the study.

Reuters, 09/11/09

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Tags: cardiac infection, infectious disease, Infectious Diseases