An artificial intelligence healthcare company has claimed that its software can identify the extent of prostate cancer more accurately than medical professionals.
Avenda Health conducted a study last month, enlisting ten doctors to evaluate 50 different prostate cancer cases. Their AI software, named Unfold AI, demonstrated a cancer detection accuracy of 84.7%, while the physicians assessing the cases manually had accuracy rates ranging from 67.2% to 75.9%.
The research, conducted in collaboration with UCLA Health and published in the Journal of Urology, highlighted that AI-assisted cancer contouring predictions were 45 times more precise and consistent compared to traditional methods.
Shyam Natarajan, an assistant adjunct professor of urology and the senior author of the study, stated that the integration of AI made physicians more accurate and consistent in their assessments, leading to greater consensus among them when AI assistance was utilized.
Doctors typically rely on MRIs to gauge tumor size; however, some tumors are not detectable through this imaging method, according to Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor of urology at UCLA. AI technology enhances capabilities where MRIs fall short.
Brisbane emphasized that leveraging AI in cancer treatment could result in more effective and personalized patient care, enabling treatments better suited to individual needs and improving success rates against the disease. He remarked that AI can surpass human capabilities.
Dr. Shyam Natarajan, CEO of Avenda Health, noted that it is encouraging for physicians to see such innovations validated through research and acknowledged by the American Medical Association.
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 1 in 8 men in the U.S. will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, and 1 in 44 will die from the illness. This year, it is estimated that there will be 299,010 new prostate cancer cases in the country, with 35,250 fatalities anticipated from the disease.