A healthcare technology company has announced that its software can identify prostate cancer more accurately than medical professionals.
Avenda Health conducted a study last month involving ten doctors who evaluated 50 prostate cancer cases each. Their Unfold AI software achieved an accuracy rate of 84.7% in detecting cancer, while the accuracy of the doctors ranged between 67.2% and 75.9%.
This research, carried out in collaboration with UCLA Health and published in the Journal of Urology, also revealed that AI significantly improved the accuracy of cancer size predictions, making them 45 times more precise and consistent compared to traditional methods.
According to Shyam Natarajan, assistant adjunct professor of urology, surgery, and bioengineering at UCLA and the study’s senior author, the integration of AI assistance enhanced both the accuracy and the consistency of the doctors’ assessments, resulting in higher levels of agreement among them.
Traditionally, doctors use MRIs to measure tumor sizes. However, some tumors can be “MRI-invisible,” as noted by Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor of urology at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine. He mentioned that AI technology fills the gaps where MRIs might not be effective.
Dr. Brisbane emphasized that incorporating AI into cancer treatment could lead to more personalized and successful patient care that aligns better with individual needs. He stated that AI has the potential to exceed human capabilities in this field.
Avenda Health CEO Dr. Shyam Natarajan expressed optimism about the validation of their innovation through research and recognition by the American Medical Association (AMA).
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, and 1 in 44 will succumb to the disease. This year, an estimated 299,010 new prostate cancer cases are expected in the US, with around 35,250 fatal outcomes.