The app uses artificial intelligence to assess risk factors and key biomarkers from blood tests, producing a COVID-19 “severity score.” 

Researchers at New York University (NYU) College of Dentistry have released a new mobile app to help clinicians determine which patients with COVID-19 are likely to have severe cases. The app uses artificial intelligence (AI) to assess risk factors and key biomarkers from blood tests, producing a COVID-19 “severity score.” 

The app was developed as part of a study, “Clinical decision support tool and rapid point-of-care platform for determining disease severity in patients with COVID-19,” led by John T. McDevitt, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NYU Tandon and of biomaterials at the NYU College of Dentistry. The study appears in Lab on a Chip, a journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry. 

“Identifying and monitoring those at risk for severe cases could help hospitals prioritize care and allocate resources like ICU beds and ventilators,” said McDevitt. “Likewise, knowing who is at low risk for complications could help reduce hospital admissions while these patients are safely managed at home.”

“We want doctors to have both the information they need and the infrastructure required to save lives. COVID-19 has challenged both of these key areas.”

Real-Time Decision Support Tool

The app has been retrospectively evaluated in the Family Health Centers at NYU Langone in Brooklyn, which serves more than 102,000 patients each year. 

“Real-time clinical decision support tools for COVID-19 can be extremely helpful, particularly in the outpatient setting, to help guide monitoring and treatment plans for those at greatest risk,” said  Isaac P. Dapkins, MD, chief medical officer for the Family Health Centers at NYU Langone and a co-author on the Lab on a Chip study.

After optimizing the clinical utility of the app at the Family Health Centers at NYU Langone in May, the researchers aim to roll it out nationwide in the coming weeks. According to the researchers, it is possible that the COVID-19 severity score could be integrated with electronic health records, thereby providing clinicians with actionable information at an early stage for those diagnosed with COVID-19.

“We hope this tool can help identify those at high risk for adverse outcomes and reduce the health disparities present with COVID-19,” said Larry K. McReynolds, executive director for the Family Health Centers at NYU Langone.

Improve Patient Triage

The diagnostic system uses small, non-invasive samples—such as swabs of saliva or drops of blood from a fingertip—which are added to credit card-sized cartridges armed with bio-nano-chips pioneered by McDevitt. The cartridge is inserted into a portable analyzer that simultaneously tests for a range of biomarkers, with results available in less than half an hour.

Because this technology is currently used for research and informational purposes only, the COVID-19 app can be used with existing laboratory tests and requires oversight by an authorized clinician. However, over the next few months, McDevitt’s laboratory, in partnership with SensoDx, a company spun out of his lab, plans to develop and scale the ability to test a drop of blood for COVID-19 severity biomarkers—similar to how a person with diabetes tests their blood sugar—and produce a severity score on the spot.

“With COVID-19, point-of-care testing, coupled with a decision support system, could improve how clinicians triage patients—and potentially improve their outcomes, particularly for those who need more immediate and aggressive care,” said McDevitt.

In addition to McDevitt’s research group at NYU College of Dentistry, the study involved collaborators from NYU Grossman School of Medicine, NYU Tandon—including PhD student Deniz Vurmaz, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, and Latham BioPharm Group. The app was developed by McDevitt’s laboratory and OraLiva, a company founded by McDevitt, and is available for both Apple and Android devices. The app is designated for use by authorized clinicians and is not intended for general use by patients.