MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Did you ever think artificial intelligence would be used to predict genuine outcomes in COVID-19 patients?

Larissa Casaburi, a researcher in the West Virginia University School of Medicine, is using artificial intelligence to do more than recommend a song or suggest what to write in an email. Casaburi is using it to study how being a coal miner affects COVID-19 outcomes. She’s also investigating how smoking, vaping and having a chronic lung condition can influence the way COVID-19 patients fare.

Larissa Casaburi, researcher and associate professor of radiology in the WVU School of Medicine (WVU Photo)

“One of the features of machine learning is that it can develop personalized predictive models,” said Casaburi, an associate professor of radiology. “It’s precise medicine. It’s a novel approach to improve patients’ care, and there’s a lot of research interest in it.”

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition for artificial intelligence includes: a branch of computer science dealing with the simulation of intelligent behavior in computer or the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behavior.

Currently, Casaburi and her colleagues plan to build a machine learning model that predicts the patients’ outcomes based on multiple variables, by using demographic and health data associated with COVID-19 patients in West Virginia. They will draw this data from the WVU COVID-19 registry.

“The artificial intelligence will make the analysis more accurate than traditional statistical models,” Casaburi said.

Working in coal mines might make people more susceptible to serious complications from COVID-19. (WVU Photo)

The model was produced by SporeData, a partner in the project. It will consider whether patients have asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or other lung conditions. It will evaluate a CT scan of their lungs, and will take into account whether they have chronic lung disease, whether they smoke or vape or whether they have worked in a coal mine and other factors. 

West Virginia is tied with Maine for the highest prevalence of asthma, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2011, the CDC reported that 8.9 percent of West Virginians had been diagnosed with the disease.

Casaburi stated that one of the most important parts of this project, is the large population of coal miners in West Virginia. According to the Energy Information Administration, West Virginia was the largest employer of coal workers in 2016.

The artificial intelligence model could help doctors individualize care for COVID-19 patients, rather than the one-size-fits-all approach.

This $30,000 project was funded by the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute.