Scientists of RMIT University have developed a new artificial intelligence-powered technology to detect early signs of prostate cancer through routine computed tomography scans. Early detection of cancer plays a vital role in its treatment as it reduces the fatality rate.
Scientists collaborated with St. Vincent Hospital in Melbourne to develop this new technology that analyzes CT scans and recognizes the early signs of prostate cancer. This innovation will now help radiologists to quickly diagnose patients and treat them before cancer gets more severe.
Dr. Ruhan Tennakoon, a researcher at RMIT University, said, “We have trained our software to see what the human eye can not, with the aim of spotting prostate cancer through incidental detection.”
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A research paper published by the Australian government mentioned that prostate cancer accounts for more than 12% of deaths from cancer in 2020.
The scientists analyzed dozens of CT scan reports of asymptomatic patients of prostate cancer and compared them with reports of patients without prostate cancer.
The artificial intelligence platform was then fed the gathered data to spot differences in the scans to report the presence of cancerous cells in individuals accurately.
The artificial intelligence software keeps on improving on its own as it analyzes more reports. The technology proved its accuracy when it was able to detect cancer in many patients, which radiologists failed to recognize.
RMIT University’s Head of artificial intelligence, Prof. JohnThangarajah, said, “Our health sector needs smarter solutions, and artificial intelligence can help, but we’re only scratching the surface. There is a lot of good that artificial intelligence can bring to the world, which is our focus at RMIT, and this study forms a big part of that.”
Researchers are now looking forward to collaborating with commercial partners to develop the software further and implement it in various hospitals across the globe.
