An AI tool named Mia has emerged as a game-changer, proving its prowess by identifying cancerous signs in mammograms that had eluded human doctors.
We know that early detection is key in treating all types of cancer but is especially necessary for those known to spread rapidly.
Mia can pinpoint minuscule tumors, often invisible to the human eye but able to growing and spreading rapidly.
Tested by the NHS, Mia analyzed over 10,000 mammogram scans, flagging known cancer cases and uncovering cancer in 11 women that doctors had missed.
In model experiments, Microsoft, who can also be involved within the Mia project and expects to deploy the technology for widespread access on Azure, predicted that it could reduce radiography workloads by 30%.
Of the ten,889 women participating within the trial, a mere 81 opted out of the AI review, showcasing widespread trust within the technology.
“AI tools are generally pretty good at spotting symptoms of a selected disease in the event that they are trained on enough data,” Dr Gerald Lip, who led the project at NHS Grampian, noted.
Mia has already potentially saved lives. The BBC reported on a patient, Barbara, who benefited from Mia’s AI-powered precision. Her cancer, though only 6mm, was detected early, meaning it could possibly be treated less invasively with higher success rates.
Barbara’s relief was palpable; “I said, ‘it’s not an enormous C, it’s a really toddler’,” she told BBC’s Zoe Kleinman.
Sarah Kerruish, Chief Strategy Officer at Kheiron Medical, the corporate that owns Mia, discussed the challenges and milestones in developing such a sophisticated tool. “It took six years to construct and train Mia,” she shared.
The NHS has actively supported the research of AI medical technologies, including a nationwide rollout of AI-supported lung cancer detection that’s as much as 40 times more accurate than traditional methods.
AI also shows immense promise in breast cancer screening, and beyond diagnostics, the technology supports anti-cancer drug development.
Dr. Katharine Halliday of the Royal College of Radiologists expressed optimism about MIA, stating, “These results are encouraging and help to spotlight the exciting potential AI presents for diagnostics.”
It’s price noting that the University of Aberdeen independently evaluated Mia’s results, however it’s yet to be peer-reviewed and documented in official research.
