A healthcare technology company has announced that its software can identify prostate cancer with greater accuracy than human doctors.
Avenda Health conducted a study involving ten doctors, each evaluating 50 cases of prostate cancer. The company’s Unfold AI software achieved an accuracy rate of 84.7% in detecting cancer, while the physicians’ manual assessments ranged from 67.2% to 75.9%.
This research, conducted in collaboration with UCLA Health and published in the Journal of Urology, also revealed that AI-assisted cancer contouring predictions for tumor size were 45 times more accurate and consistent compared to manual methods.
Shyam Natarajan, an assistant adjunct professor of urology, surgery, and bioengineering at UCLA and the study’s senior author, noted that the use of AI not only improved the accuracy of doctors but also enhanced their consistency in diagnosis.
While physicians typically rely on MRIs to determine tumor size, some tumors remain undetectable by this method. Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor of urology at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, highlighted that AI is particularly valuable in situations where MRIs fall short. He emphasized that AI has the potential to provide more effective and individualized treatment options for patients by surpassing human capabilities.
Dr. Shyam Natarajan, CEO of Avenda Health, expressed that it is empowering for doctors to see innovation validated through research recognized 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 men is expected to die from the disease. In the United States, it is estimated that there will be 299,010 new prostate cancer cases this year, resulting in 35,250 deaths.