Colon cancer is the
second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S., but colonoscopies
have been found to reduce the risk of death from the disease by 70 percent by
finding and removing benign polyps before they have time to turn into cancer. Doctors,
however, don't always find every polyp.
As a
gastroenterologist, CBS News medical contributor Dr. Jon LaPook knows all too
well that colon polyps can be tough to spot. They may be partly hiding behind a
fold, or so flat and subtle that they're barely visible to the eye.
A new high-tech tool
may be able to help doctors spot them. LaPook decided to give the new
technology a test run - not as a doctor, but as a patient.
The colonoscopy was
performed by Dr. Mark Pochapin, chief of gastroenterology at NYU Langone
Health. Assisting Dr. Pochapin is a second set of eyes: a computer powered by
artificial intelligence.
"The good news is
what we do really prevent cancer … but we do miss polyps, and we have to
recognize that anybody, no matter how good they are, has the potential to miss
something because we're only human," Pochapin said.
A recent study
published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering found artificial
intelligence was able to detect polyps more than 90 percent of the time.
Researchers in China had fed the computer more than 5,000 images from
colonoscopies, and the computer used those pictures to teach itself to
recognize polyps.
Dr. Seth Gross is
heading one of the first studies exploring whether AI can help find polyps not
just in a computer lab but in patients actually undergoing colonoscopy.
"The parts that
we're trying to improve upon detection are those flat ones, very subtle. … And
this is where artificial intelligence can be most helpful," Gross said.
LaPook is one of the
early participants in the study, which began about two months ago. The first
polyp spotted by the AI in LaPook's colon was very subtle, small and flat.
Pochapin removed it but can't say for sure whether he or the computer spotted
it first. As Pochapin withdrew the instrument, the AI spotted another small
polyp.
We're happy to report
that the polyps were totally benign, and not precancerous. LaPook's colonoscopy
also highlighted the importance of doing a good job with the prep. His polyps
were so subtle, they could easily have been missed if the lining of the colon
wasn't clean.
The
Final Say
Cancers are dangerous
threats that the world is facing now. With the advent of new technology, the
smart devices can give a help to prevent them like applying Artificial
Intelligence to spot colon polyps.
With 21 years of
experience in software development, TMA Solutions focuses on new
technology such as Artificial Intelligence
and Machine Learning to solve real life issues easier. If you need a
software outsourcing provider working on Artificial Intelligence project in
every industry, TMA Solutions is your eligible choice to cooperate. Our skilled
developers in TMA Innovation
Center bring the core values to go further with you.
No comments:
Post a Comment