Current problems arise from many factors including:

The ITAMA project, funded from the INTERREG V-A Italia-Malta program, using a multidisciplinary
approach, aims to:

  • Improve the diagnostic process going from the concept of test accuracy to utility (predictive value) of the test, through the implementation of a Database, the introduction of ICT tools, currently not available in the scientific community for this pathology, including a dedicated Decision Support System (DSS).
  • The use of the AAc (Anti Actin IgA) test, already tested, performed in sequence with conventional tests, which preaches a compatible intestinal damage regardless of the  symptoms, can increase the number of subjects to avoid biopsy. The verification of the diagnostic accuracy of the AAc test in a screening of over 20000 primary school children in Malta and Sicily carries out a diagnostic algorithm for:
    • the increase in the diagnosis of coeliac disease with decreased costs of the disease
    • the increase in children diagnosed without biopsy, with a reduction in diagnostic
      costs
    • the diagnostic accuracy of the PoCT test even if the test is negative
  • Define tools for technology transfer and/or process innovation in the healthcare sector.