Bowel Cancer Cure, Diagnosis News 2017: Japanese Researchers Build AI-Powered System to Detect Bowel Cancer
Researchers based in Japan has claimed to have adapted Artificial Intelligence software for detecting bowel cancer. The results were particularly outstanding, with the new system able to spot cancer in endoscopic images at 94 percent accuracy in less than a second.
Using about 30,000 images of colorectal adenomas, tumors that are potentially cancerous, scientists were able to teach a software system, using machine learning techniques, how to detect them in endoscopic images.
In a demo, the system checked more than 300 colorectal adenomas in 250 patients, determining which of those were cancerous with a 94 percent accuracy, according to ZDNet. The software took less than a second to examine each endoscopic image as well, according to the researchers.
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"The most remarkable breakthrough with this system is that artificial intelligence enables real-time optical biopsy of colorectal polyps during colonoscopy, regardless of the endoscopists' skill," Dr. Yuichi Mori from Showa University in Yokohama, Japan, who led the study, said.
"We believe these results are acceptable for clinical application and our immediate goal is to obtain regulatory approval for the diagnostic system," Mori added, speaking at the United European Gastroenterology panel on Monday, Oct. 30.
The system works by analyzing a highly magnified image of the endoscopic scan. The system zooms in on a colorectal polyp at levels 500 times larger than what the naked eye can see, according to the Huffington Post.
The AI then compares its features with what it has learned from the catalog of 30,000 endocytoscopic images to determine if it can potentially develop into colon cancer.
The new system, refined for even higher accuracy, could prevent needless surgery to remove non-cancerous polyps, according to Dr. Mori. "This allows the complete resection of adenomatous (cancerous) polyps and prevents unnecessary polypectomy (removal) of non-neoplastic polyps," he noted.
Bowel cancer is a general term for cancer that starts in the large bowel, which also covers the more specific colon or rectal cancer, according to the NHS. Colon and rectum cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S.
