Avenda Health, an AI healthcare company, claims that its software can detect the extent of prostate cancer with greater accuracy than human doctors.
In a recent study, ten physicians evaluated 50 prostate cancer cases each, revealing that Avenda’s Unfold AI software achieved an accuracy rate of 84.7%. In contrast, the doctors’ manual assessments ranged from 67.2% to 75.9% accuracy.
The study, conducted in collaboration with UCLA Health and published in the Journal of Urology, highlighted that AI-assisted cancer contouring made predictions about cancer size 45 times more accurate and consistent compared to traditional methods.
Shyam Natarajan, an assistant adjunct professor at UCLA and the study’s senior author, noted that the integration of AI assistance improved both the accuracy and consistency of doctors’ assessments, fostering greater agreement among them.
Doctors typically use MRI scans to gauge tumor size, but some tumors are not visible on these scans, a limitation addressed by the AI technology, according to Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine. He emphasized that AI can enhance cancer treatment by providing more effective and personalized care tailored to each patient’s needs.
Dr. Natarajan, CEO of Avenda Health, expressed optimism about the validation of this innovative approach through research and recognition 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 in their lifetime, while 1 in 44 men will succumb to the disease. The organization estimates that there will be 299,010 new cases of prostate cancer this year in the U.S., with 35,250 expected fatalities.