An artificial intelligence healthcare company has announced that its software can detect the extent of prostate cancer more accurately than doctors can.
Avenda Health conducted a study involving ten physicians who evaluated 50 different cases of prostate cancer. The company’s Unfold AI software achieved an accuracy rate of 84.7% in detecting cancer, whereas the doctors’ manual assessments ranged between 67.2% and 75.9%.
The research, in collaboration with UCLA Health and published in the Journal of Urology, revealed that the use of AI in cancer contouring significantly improved size predictions, showing 45 times more accuracy and consistency compared to manual methods.
Shyam Natarajan, an assistant adjunct professor of urology, surgery, and bioengineering at UCLA and the study’s senior author, emphasized that AI assistance improved both the accuracy and consistency of the doctors’ assessments, leading to greater agreement among them when utilizing AI tools.
Doctors generally rely on MRIs to determine tumor size; however, some tumors are not visible on these scans. Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor of urology at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, noted that AI can provide critical support in these situations where MRIs may fail.
Brisbane stated that AI’s involvement in cancer treatment could pave the way for more effective and personalized patient care, allowing treatments to be better suited to individual needs and enhancing the chances of successfully combating the disease. He emphasized that AI has the potential to surpass human capabilities.
Dr. Shyam Natarajan, CEO of Avenda Health, remarked on the significance of this innovation being validated through research and acknowledged by the American Medical Association.
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 1 in 8 men in the United States will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime, and 1 in 44 men will succumb to the disease. It is projected that there will be 299,010 new prostate cancer cases in the US this year, with an estimated 35,250 fatalities due to the illness.