Detecting Prostate Cancer Faster with AI
BioE Assistant Research Professor Saeed Amal has developed a new AI-powered web-based tool that will be able to detect prostate cancer faster.
This article originally appeared on Northeastern Global News. It was published by Cesareo Contreras. Main photo: Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death among men in the United States. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University
New AI tool can help health care providers detect prostate cancer faster, Northeastern researcher says
A new web-based tool utilizing AI can help pathologists detect prostate cancer faster, say Northeastern University researchers who developed the technology.
Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer among men in the United States and is the second-leading cause of cancer death among men in the country. But if it’s caught early enough, the disease is much more easily treatable, and in many cases patients can be cured.
Northeastern assistant research professor of bioengineering Saeed Amal. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University
Since the 1990s, prostate cancer deaths in the U.S. have declined by 40% to 50% thanks to early detection and therapy improvements, according to Fred Hutch Cancer Center.
Yet increasingly, men under the age of 50 are getting diagnosed with prostate cancer. At the same time, there continues to be a shortage of pathologists in the U.S., and many people aren’t being screened until it’s too late.
Researchers at Northeastern’s Roux Institute in Portland, Maine, say the new tool can help expedite the diagnosis.
Current methods involve doctors reviewing biopsy slides manually looking for abnormality in the organ. That process can take an hour. The new tool takes just seconds, researchers say.
“This work will provide a more accurate and timelier diagnosis and grading than the manual existing process in prostate cancer diagnosis,” says Saeed Amal, a bioengineering assistant research professor at Northeastern who led the development of the tool. “This will reduce the time for diagnosis, grading and treatment, and will result in greatly improved patient care and help alleviate the issues caused by the nationwide shortage of pathologists.”
A small group of pathologists recently tested the new tool as part of a pilot research survey conducted by Amal.
“This work will provide a more accurate and timelier diagnosis and grading than the manual existing process in prostate cancer diagnosis.”Saeed Amal, a bioengineering Assistant Research professor at Northeastern
With the feedback, the team will work to improve the nascent technology in its mission to one day offer the tool for broader use.
Read full story at Northeastern Global News