Photo Credit: Smileus

An improved test for Lyme disease could provide accurate results within 20 minutes, researchers report. The test—which resembles an AI-guided form of the at-home COVID-19 test— would be a vast improvement over the current two-part lab test that takes up to two weeks for results, researchers said. Prompt treatment with antibiotics can stave off long-term symptoms in 80% to 90% of people newly infected Lyme disease, researchers said. Unfortunately, the testing regimen now recommended by the CDC returns results in one to two weeks, and misses seven out of 10 early-stage cases, researchers said. In the new test, a blood serum sample is applied to sponge-like paper containing lab-made peptides that detect antibodies created by the body in response to Lyme disease. An AI-driven smartphone app reads the pattern formed on the paper by the blood sample and provides quick results, researchers reported recently in the journal Nature Communications. The test is 95% accurate at detecting Lyme disease and 100% accurate at ruling out samples that don’t contain Lyme antibodies, researchers said. The test likely will take a few years to reach the clinic, researchers warned.