PL || Quick diagnosis of radiation effects. How does the MaksChroms program work? || Szybka diagnoza skutków promieniowania. Jak działa program MaksChroms?

Image from article MaksChroms: An open-source CNN-based tool for dose prediction based on dicentric chromosome assay

What should be done if a nuclear disaster occurs or someone is exposed to harmful radiation – for example, as a result of a nuclear power plant accident, as in Ukraine? Doctors must then quickly determine the radiation dose the body has received, as this determines both the treatment method and the chances of recovery. A team of scientists from the Faculty of Physics of the University of Warsaw and the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Warsaw, collaborating with scientists from Germany and Japan, has developed innovative software that allows for a much faster assessment of the situation than before.

Most cells in our body contain chromosomes, which are condensed DNA. Normally, a chromosome has a single constriction in the center, called a centromere (a place resembling an indentation where two parts of a chromosome join). Sometimes, however, fragments of different chromosomes can fuse together, creating a structure with two centromeres, known as a dicentric chromosome.

Such changes occur, among other things, under the influence of ionizing radiation. The more dicentrics seen in the examined cells, the higher the radiation dose the body has most likely received. Traditionally, this is done manually – the laboratory technician must interpret what they see under the microscope.

Detecting radiation exposure may soon become much faster and easier. This is the result of the work of an interdepartmental team of researchers from the Faculty of Physics and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Warsaw, who collaborated with scientists from Germany and Japan. The work was led by prof. Beata Brzozowska, professor at the Department of Biomedical Physics at the Institute of Experimental Physics. The scientists created MaksChroms – open-source and free diagnostic software based on convolutional neural networks.