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By Nancy Lapid, Health Science Editor

Hello Health Rounds readers! Today we highlight efforts to eliminate racial bias from an important medical imaging technique. We also report on the benefits of automating insulin delivery during pregnancy for women with type 1 diabetes and on the possible role of intestinal organisms in menopause symptoms.

In breaking news, see these stories from our Reuters journalists: 

Online vendors warned to stop selling unapproved weight-loss drugs; New COVID shots still hard to find for some Americans; More U.S. employers to cover weight-loss drugs in 2024; Paris freaks out over bedbugs ahead of Olympic Games, and Utah sues TikTok over impact of app on children.

Researchers say they’ve developed a way to improve the accuracy of photoacoustic imaging, a technique that’s presently less dependable in patients with darker skin tones. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

An increasingly popular form of medical imaging that is less accurate in nonwhite patients can be modified to deliver clear images no matter the skin tone, researchers say.

Photoacoustic imaging, a hybrid technique that combines ultrasound with light waves, is increasingly being used to assess blood vessels and look for tumors.

But as with fingertip pulse oximeters that pass light waves through skin to measure oxygen levels in blood, photoacoustic imaging is vulnerable to racial bias.

The technique has higher error rates in nonwhite patients because the melanin in their skin absorbs more of the light being emitted by the devices.

“When you’re imaging through skin with light, it’s kind of like the elephant in the room that there are important biases and challenges for people with darker skin compared to those with lighter skin tones,” co-senior author Muyinatu Bell of Johns Hopkins University said in a statement.

As reported in the medical journal Photoacoustics, Bell’s team has now have created an algorithm that allows them to “sharpen” the photoacoustic information from images of darker skin, in the way a camera filter sharpens a blurry picture, to show internal biological structures more accurately.

“We’re aiming to mitigate, and ideally eliminate, bias in imaging technologies,” Bell said. “Our work demonstrates that equitable imaging technology is possible.”

Read more about biased results from medical devices on Reuters.com

• Wanted: an oxygen monitor reliable for all races

Pregnant women with type 1 diabetes may be better served by managing blood sugar using smartphone apps that automate the delivery of insulin, a new study has found.

Women who used the technology during the study spent more time in the target range for pregnancy blood sugar levels (68% vs 56% for those without), without additional episodes of low blood sugar, according to a report published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The trial involved 124 volunteers with type 1 diabetes who were nearing the end of their first trimester.

Half were randomly assigned to control their disease with a technology known as Hybrid Closed-Loop or Artificial Pancreas, in which a smartphone app communicates with continuous glucose monitoring and insulin pump systems, constantly measuring blood sugar levels and adjusting insulin doses accordingly. The remaining women received traditional insulin therapy, making their own decisions about doses.

Women using the technology also gained 3.5 kg (7.7 lbs) less weight and were less likely to have blood pressure complications during pregnancy. They also had fewer antenatal clinic appointments, and fewer out-of-hours calls with maternity clinic teams.

For babies, complications related to poorly controlled type 1 diabetes during pregnancy include premature birth, need for intensive care after birth, and being too large at birth, which increases the lifelong risk of becoming overweight or obese, the researchers noted.

“Unborn babies are exquisitely sensitive to small rises in blood sugars, so keeping blood sugar levels within the normal range during pregnancy is crucial to reduce risks for the mother and child,” study leader Helen Murphy of the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK said in a statement.

“This technology is game changing, in that it will allow more women to have safer, healthier, more enjoyable pregnancies, with potential for lifelong benefits for their babies.”

Bowel-related factors may affect the rate and intensity of menopause symptoms, a study suggests.

Researchers in Lithuania surveyed 693 midlife women and found those who reported constipation also reported more severe menopause symptoms, particularly hot flashes, compared with women with more regular bowel movements.

The female sex hormone estrogen helps to regulate the populations of healthy micro-organisms that live in the intestines. But estrogen levels drop with menopause, and resulting imbalances in gut microbiota are known to contribute to constipation, the researchers said in a report published in Menopause, the journal of The Menopause Society.

Imbalances in gut microbiota have also been shown to influence the nervous system, especially with regard to how a woman responds to stress. Reports of higher stress levels were also linked with more severe menopause symptoms, the researchers said.

“These findings highlight how the loss of estrogen at the time of menopause can affect multiple body systems and result in myriad symptoms that may be interrelated,” Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director for The Menopause Society, said in a statement. She added that further study was needed to better understand the physiologic mechanisms involved.

This newsletter was edited by Bill Berkrot.

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