Would you pay more to improve your medical monitoring with artificial intelligence? In a recent study, more than 30% of women opted for AI-enhanced mammograms, and the results are in.
Cancer was 21% more likely to be detected in women who paid more for a cancer screening program, researchers at this year’s Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting revealed AI-enhanced breast. Their conclusions, presented at the annual meeting and detailed in an RSNA statementclaim the potential of AI to be a “second pair of eyes” for radiologists.
“This is the first report on the results of a program that provides an improved AI-based review that patients can choose to enroll in,” said Bryan Haslam, chief product officer at DeepHealth who led the study, in the statement
The study looked at 10 clinical practices that offered patients an FDA-compliant, self-pay, AI screening mammography program. X-rays of women who opted into the program were reviewed by a breast radiologist and then by AI software. If the reviews were not consistent with each other, a second radiologist would do a third review.
“The AI-powered enhanced review program leverages AI in a new workflow to ensure women with suspicious findings receive expert care that could help catch many more breast cancers early Haslam added. “The number of women electing for this program is now 36% and growing, and the cancer detection rate continues to be substantially higher for these women.”
In fact, of the 747,604 women who had mammograms over a year, the cancer detection rate was about 43% higher for those enrolled in the program compared to those who did not. The researchers observed a higher rate in all 10 practices in the study. While they attribute 22% of this increase to the fact that women at higher risk of cancer were more likely to enroll in the program, the remaining 21% of the increased detection comes from AI.
Consequently, enrolled women were called back for additional screening at a 21% higher rate than non-enrolled women and their positive predictive value for cancer (the chances that positive results for cancer). really indicates cancer) was also 15% higher, “indicating that each reminder resulted in more cancer diagnoses in the enrolled population,” the researchers wrote. In other words, AI-assisted memories were more accurate.
“These data indicate that many women are eager to use AI to improve their screening mammography, and when AI is attached to a screening screening, more cancers are found,” said Gregory Sorensen, also of DeepHealth and senior writer of the study. The scientists then hope to continue their research and eliminate biases that result from self-selection using randomized controlled trials.
These results highlight the potential of AI-enhanced radiology. Although some clinics offer the enhancement at an additional cost, the fact that insurances are currently unwilling to cover that cost could be slowing its integration, the researchers said.
It remains to be seen whether further research will lead to more widespread and potentially revolutionary use of AI in diagnostics and whether insurance companies will get on board.
