Artificial Intelligence May Improve the Accuracy of Mammograms
A new Artificial Intelligence (AI) system created by Google has shown to be as effective in detecting breast cancer as an expert radiologist a recent study reports. Google is using its AI to interpret mammogram results and screen for breast cancer faster and more efficiently to provide patients with faster and more accurate results.
Often, abnormal findings during a mammogram results in being sent back for a second diagnostic mammogram. The anxious patient is then expected to wait for their new imaging results to be read and interpreted by a radiologist and for a radiology report to be delivered to their ordering physician, who then will reach out to the patient with the results. This process not only requires two separate imaging appointments but also includes many hours (or even days) of waiting for a result from a doctor. The speed and accuracy at which Google’s new AI technology works could eliminate this lengthy waiting process altogether.
CNN reports Artificial Intelligence is not only speeding up the potential diagnosis of breast cancer it is doing so with fewer errors than the eye of an expert radiologist alone. In the study (funded by Google) over 25,000 mammograms were scanned with the AI system. The study showed that images reviewed by the AI technology had a decreased rate for false positives by 5.7% in American patients and the rate for false negatives was cut to just 9.4%. To put these results into further perspective, an average margin of error for the human eye is roughly 20% in both false positives and false negatives.
Dr. Ramon Garza III states, “There is great potential in this technology. Especially when you consider places that don’t have good physician access, and potentially as a second pair of eyes having an initial read by a radiologist then have the technology review the images to act as a two physician check. We are very excited about this technology and the potential it has for detecting and determining if people have breast cancer.”
The new development of Artificial Intelligence, when used specifically to read mammograms, has the capability of increasing the standard of care, reducing wait times between initial testing and a cancer diagnosis, and provide patients with an extremely accurate second set of “eyes” when reviewing imaging results. False positives result in multiple procedures that can often be costly and unnecessary for patients and a false negative can have serious health implications. This technology has the potential to assist practitioners, radiologists, and surgeons to better care for their patients.
Author: Dr. Ramon Garza III and Courtney Floyd
A new Artificial Intelligence (AI) system created by Google has shown to be as effective in detecting breast cancer as an expert radiologist a recent study reports. Google is using its AI to interpret mammogram results and screen for breast cancer faster and more efficiently to provide patients with faster and more accurate results.
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