Avenda Health, an artificial intelligence healthcare company, claims that its software is capable of detecting the extent of prostate cancer more accurately than doctors.
The company published a study last month involving ten physicians who evaluated 50 different cases of prostate cancer. According to the findings, Avenda’s Unfold AI software achieved an accuracy rate of 84.7% in detecting cancer, while the doctors’ manual assessments ranged from 67.2% to 75.9%.
This study, conducted in collaboration with UCLA Health and published in the Journal of Urology, also indicated that AI-assisted cancer contouring resulted in predictions of cancer size being 45 times more accurate and consistent compared to assessments made without AI support.
Shyam Natarajan, a senior author of the study and assistant adjunct professor at UCLA, stated that the use of AI helped improve both the accuracy and consistency of doctors’ diagnoses, leading to greater agreement among them when utilizing AI assistance.
Typically, doctors rely on MRI scans to gauge tumor size; however, some tumors are not visible on MRI, as noted by Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor of urology at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine. He emphasized that AI can provide valuable insights where MRI fails.
Brisbane further explained that the integration of AI in cancer treatment may enhance personalized care for patients, tailoring treatments to their specific needs and improving outcomes against the disease. He added that AI has the potential to surpass human capabilities.
Dr. Shyam Natarajan, CEO of Avenda Health, remarked that it is encouraging for physicians to see such innovations being validated through research and acknowledged by the American Medical Association.
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, and 1 in 44 men will succumb to the disease. It is projected that there will be 299,010 new cases of prostate cancer in the United States this year, with an estimated 35,250 fatalities resulting from the illness.