CLEVELAND, Ohio (InvestigateTV) — Artificial intelligence is showing promise as a tool for detecting lung cancer nodules that even trained radiologists can miss, according to researchers studying the technology at University Hospitals in Cleveland.
Lung cancer nodules in their early stages can be nearly impossible to see. The disease often goes undiagnosed until patients begin experiencing symptoms, by which point it may be too late.
“When they are having cough, chest pain or blood coming out of the sputum, unfortunately that stage is stage three or four, and at that time the survival rate is, whatever you do, is in single digits,” Dr. Amit Gupta, a radiologist at University Hospitals, said.
Gupta and his team are now studying an AI tool called Qure.ai to determine whether it can help catch the disease sooner.
“In my initial experience, it can find some of the nodules which are super hidden and on a busy day, even a trained cardiothoracic radiologist may overlook them,” Gupta said.
Qure.ai acts as a second set of eyes for radiologists.
Dr. Samir Shah, the company’s chief medical officer, said its AI algorithm was trained on large amounts of data gathered over nine years studying tuberculosis X-rays.
“Those X-rays could be used not only to look at TB, but we started looking at lung nodules as well, and we looked at 5 million of those,” Shah said. “That’s more than I would ever read — and maybe 10-fold more than I would ever read in my entire lifetime,” Shah said.
Through that vast amount of data, the system learned what was and was not a nodule.
Shah said the technology is aimed at achieving what researchers call a “stage shift,” catching lung cancer in stage one or two, when survival rates jump to 60 to 70 percent.
“When it starts small and has not spread and it can be removed, you’re talking about a curative situation,” Shah said. “That’s what the goal is for every oncologist. That’s what the goal is for every thoracic surgeon who’s involved, every pulmonologist. That’s what the aim is.”
Beyond lung cancer, Qure.ai said the technology also shows promise in diagnosing other difficult-to-detect illnesses, including breast cancer.
In a broader survey by the American Medical Association, 66 percent of doctors report they currently use AI in their practice for tasks including billing codes, medical charts and visit notes. Experts say AI’s growing role in health care should be seen as an opportunity.
“It’s saving them time. It’s giving better quality care for their patients,” Foluke Omosun, an assistant professor at Sacred Heart University, said. “They’re having more time to do other things. so I feel like this is something that doctors should be excited about.”
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