An artificial intelligence healthcare company claims that its software can more accurately assess the extent of prostate cancer compared to medical professionals.
Avenda Health published a study last month involving ten doctors 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 physicians’ manual assessments ranged from 67.2% to 75.9%.
Conducted in collaboration with UCLA Health and featured in the Journal of Urology, the study also revealed that AI-assisted cancer contouring significantly improved predictions of tumor size, showing accuracy and consistency that was 45 times better than traditional methods.
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 aids doctors in becoming both more accurate and consistent, resulting in greater consensus among them when utilizing AI support.
Typically, doctors rely on MRI scans to gauge tumor sizes; however, some tumors are “MRI-invisible,” as explained by Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor of urology at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine. He noted that AI technology can provide insights where MRIs fall short.
Brisbane stated that the application of AI in cancer therapy could enhance personalized care for patients, allowing for treatments tailored to their specific needs and increasing the likelihood of successful outcomes against the disease. He asserted that AI has the potential to surpass human capabilities.
Dr. Shyam Natarajan, CEO of Avenda Health, expressed that it is encouraging for physicians to witness innovations being validated through research and appreciated by the American Medical Association.
In the United States, about 1 in 8 men will receive a prostate cancer diagnosis in their lifetime, and 1 in 44 will succumb to the disease, according to the American Cancer Society. This year, an estimated 299,010 new prostate cancer cases are anticipated in the U.S., with 35,250 fatalities expected from the disease.