More than 15 million people worldwide are diagnosed with cancer every year, and 80 percent of those will undergo surgery. In the US alone more than one million cancer samples are biopsied annually, and each one must be analyzed and diagnosed by a pathologist, putting enormous strain on health services.
Now, the complex, difficult and time-consuming task of diagnosing brain tumors stands to become a thing of the past with the advent of new technology based on artificial intelligence (AI) that can do the job in about two minutes — more than 10 times faster than a human expert.
To develop the machine, researchers from New York University-trained an AI algorithm to analyze brain cancers from more than 2.5 million images. Then, using 278 patients undergoing brain surgery, the authors found that the model’s diagnoses were not only faster in delivery but slightly more accurate than those made by pathologists.
The findings are expected to help surgeons and patients when it comes to surgical cancer removal, make the procedure safer and more effective than ever before.
