An artificial intelligence algorithm outperforms radiologists in diagnosing prostate cancer from MRI scans, reports Inside Precision Medicine. It also cuts false positive diagnoses in half, according to a study by researchers at Radboud University Medical Center:
Over 10,000 MRI scans were used to develop and test AI algorithms. The top five AI submissions were combined into a super-algorithm, which was then compared to the assessments of radiologists using 400 prostate MRI scans.
This study is the first of its kind to transparently evaluate and compare the performance of AI against radiologist assessments and clinical outcomes on such a large scale. The research involved more than 200 AI teams and 62 radiologists from 20 countries. The accuracy of AI and radiologists was measured against a gold standard, with patient outcomes monitored over an average of five years.
The results were striking: AI detected nearly seven percent more significant prostate cancers than the radiologists. Moreover, AI triggered false alarms 50 percent less often, potentially reducing the number of unnecessary biopsies by half. These findings suggest that AI could significantly alleviate the workload of radiologists, improve diagnostic accuracy, and minimize unnecessary procedures.
The artificial intelligence algorithm developed in this study is not yet available for clinical use and requires additional testing. But it does show that artificial intelligence could dramatically improve cancer detection in the future, both by giving more accurate diagnoses, and by cutting the workload of radiologists.
The usefulness of artificial intelligence is a reason to fight federal legislation to micromanage AI algorithms, such as legislation described by Stuart Baker at Reason Magazine’s web site, which could stifle innovation and increase harmful red tape.
Artificial intelligence is also being used to generate highly-effective antibodies to fight disease. Doctors overseas are using artificial intelligence to detect cases of breast cancer more effectively.
Before new medical tests can be used in the U.S., they generally have to be approved by the FDA, which is rather slow in approving medical tests and devices. The FDA didn’t approve a home test for HIV until 24 years after it first received an application. According to an FDA advisory committee, the test held “the potential to prevent the transmission of more than 4,000 new HIV infections in its first year of use alone.” That means thousands of people got infected with AIDS as a result of the FDA’s delay in approving it.
