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CORSAI PROJECT

“Raman analysis of saliva from COPD patients as new biomarker: AI-based point-of-care for the disease monitoring and management”

EraPerMed – Joint Transnational Call 2021
Duration: 42 months (01/02/2022 – 31/07/2025)

Project overview

COPD is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Current diagnostic and monitoring tools are often invasive, time-consuming, or poorly sensitive to early molecular changes. Saliva is an ideal candidate for non-invasive sampling, and Raman spectroscopy allows rapid molecular-level analysis with high specificity.

The integration of AI algorithms with RS data and clinical information represents a disruptive innovation in the COPD care pathway. CORSAI aims to fill the gap between molecular diagnostics and personalised care, offering clinicians new tools for precision medicine in respiratory disease.

The main goal of the CORSAI project is to create and validate a novel, non-invasive diagnostic method based on Raman spectroscopy (RS) analysis of saliva, aimed at improving the personalised management of patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

By combining clinical instrumental data with RS-based molecular profiling and Artificial Intelligence (AI), CORSAI will support clinicians in:

  • the early identification of COPD phenotypes
  • improved assignment of personalised therapies
  • exacerbation risk assessment
  • monitoring treatment adherence

This integrated approach will provide an objective, AI-driven decision-support system for point-of-care application, ultimately enhancing the quality of clinical COPD care.

Consortium & Funding

CORSAI is a European project funded under the EraPerMed – Joint Transnational Call 2021, coordinated by Fondazione Don Gnocchi – Milan, Italy (Dr. Banfi and Dr. Bedoni).

Project partners include:

  • Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca (Italy)
  • Geratherm Respiratory GmbH (Germany)
  • Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) (Spain)
  • Riga Stradins University (Latvia)

 

Main achievements

The CORSAI project successfully recruited 74% of the planned subjects. The main achievements included the development of an AI-based classification model capable of distinguishing between all subject groups, integrated into the Blue Cherry software, which interpolates clinical and Raman spectroscopy data. Moreover, the use of portable Raman spectroscopy allowed us to test the real potential for translating this system into clinical practice with high accuracy. A particularly impactful result was the ability to assess the contribution of pharmacological treatment to the salivary signature, providing a novel approach to monitoring patient adherence to therapy and personalizing treatments.

 

Publications

  • “Development of a Raman-Based Method for the Diagnosis of People with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome: The Role of Lactic Acid”, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2025;
  • “A robust support vector machine approach for Raman data classification”, Decision Analytics Journal, 2025 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dajour.2025.100595
  • “Utility of Raman Spectroscopy in Pulmonary Medicine”, Adv Resp Med, 2024 https://doi.org/10.3390/arm92050038

 

Dissemination activities

  • Oral and Poster presentations “SERS analysis of saliva by portable Raman for a rapid diagnosis and personalized management of patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease” – NanoInnovation 2025, Rome (IT), September 2025
  • Poster presentation “SERS analysis of saliva by portable Raman for diagnosis and management of patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease” – LabItalia 2025 Conference, Milan (IT), June 2025
  • Oral presentation “Raman analysis of saliva from COPD patients as new biomarker: AI-based point-of-care for the disease monitoring and management” – Science Together organized by Fondazione Don Gnocchi, Milan (IT), June 2025
  • Poster presentation “SERS analysis of saliva by portable Raman for a rapid diagnosis and personalized management of patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease” – ETPN_NANOMED25, Barcelona (ES), May 2025
  • Oral presentation “Raman Spectroscopy on salivary samples: a new approach for diseases diagnosis”, VISPEC 2023, Perugia (IT), June 2023
  • Oral presentation “Analisi salivare con spettroscopio RAMAN”, Science Together organized by Fondazione Don Gnocchi, Milan (IT), May 2023