Repurposed AI identifies skin cancer as accurately as trained specialists
Artificial intelligence (AI), repurposed from software developed by tech giant Google, is able to identify skin cancer through photographs as accurately as trained specialists, according to a study by a team of scientists in the Stanford University in the US.
The scientists said the findings were “incredibly exciting” and the AI would not be tested in clinics. Eventually, they believe using AI could revolutionize healthcare by turning anyone’s smartphone into a cancer scanner.
The AI had learned to spot the difference between images of cats and dogs. It was shown 129,450 photographs and told what type of skin condition it was looking at in each one.
It then learned to spot the hallmarks of the most common type of skin cancer: carcinoma, and the most deadly: melanoma. Only one in 20 skin cancers are melanoma, yet the tumor accounts for three-quarters of skin cancer deaths.
The experiment then tested the AI against 21 trained skin cancer doctors.
One of the researchers, Dr. Andre Esteva, said that they found the AI to be, in general, on par with board-certified dermatologists.
However, the computer software cannot make a full diagnosis, as this is normally confirmed with a tissue biopsy.
Dr. Esteva said the system now needed to be tested alongside doctors in the clinic.
“One particular route that we find exciting is the use of this algorithm on a mobile device, but to achieve this we would have to build an app and test its accuracy directly from a mobile device,” Dr. Esteva noted on the application of AI to healthcare.
Dr. Jana Witt, from the charity Cancer Research UK, said that the use of AI to aid in the diagnosis of skin cancer is very interesting as it could support assessments by general practitioners and dermatologists. “It’s unlikely that AI will replace all of the other information your clinician would consider when making a diagnosis, but AI could help guide GP referrals to specialists in the future,” Dr. Witt added.
Recently, a team of doctors in London has also made advancements in the use of AI in predicting when a heart failure may occurin patients with pulmonary hypertension.
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
