Artificial intelligence can accurately diagnose brain tumours within minutes

Artificial intelligence can diagnose brain tumours more accurately than a pathologist in a tenth of the time, a study has shown.

The machine-learning technology was marginally more accurate than a traditional diagnosis made by a pathologist, by just 1%, but the results were available in less than 2 minutes and 30 seconds, compared with 20 to 30 minutes by a pathologist.

The study, published in Nature Medicine, demonstrates the speed and accuracy of AI diagnosis for brain surgery, allowing surgeons to detect and remove otherwise undetectable tumour tissue.

Daniel Orringer, an Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine and a senior author, said: “As surgeons, we’re limited to acting on what we can see; this technology allows us to see what would otherwise be invisible to improve speed and accuracy in the [operating theatre] and reduce the risk of misdiagnosis."

“With this imaging technology, cancer operations are safer and more effective than ever before.”

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Source: The Independent, 6 January 2020