An artificial intelligence healthcare firm claims that its software can more accurately identify the extent of prostate cancer compared to medical professionals.
Avenda Health recently published a study in partnership with UCLA Health, 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, while the accuracy of the doctors varied between 67.2% and 75.9%.
The study, which appeared in the Journal of Urology, highlighted that AI-assisted cancer contouring led to predictions of tumor size being 45 times more precise and consistent than those made without AI.
According to Shyam Natarajan, an assistant adjunct professor of urology, surgery, and bioengineering at UCLA and the study’s senior author, the integration of AI assistance improved both the accuracy and consistency of diagnoses among doctors.
Traditionally, doctors rely on MRIs to assess tumor sizes, but Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor of urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, noted that certain tumors are often “MRI-invisible.” AI technology provides valuable insights in these challenging cases.
Brisbane emphasized that the incorporation of AI in cancer treatment could facilitate more effective and personalized care for patients, enabling treatments that are specifically tailored to individual requirements and improving the chances of success in combating the disease. He remarked that AI has the potential to surpass human capabilities.
Avenda Health’s CEO, Dr. Shyam Natarajan, expressed that it is encouraging for healthcare providers to see such innovations being substantiated 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 receive a prostate cancer diagnosis in their lifetime, and 1 in 44 men will succumb to the disease. In 2023, it is projected that there will be 299,010 new cases of prostate cancer in the U.S., with an estimated 35,250 fatal cases.