BOCA RATON, Fla. (WPEC) — Artificial intelligence, or AI, is a transformative tool in the healthcare industry. It’s being used for things like transcribing documents, improving doctor-patient communication, and helping create personalized treatment plans.
Boca Raton Regional Hospital is using artificial intelligence to help its doctors battle breast cancer, which except for skin cancer, is the most common cancer in women in the U.S. and the second leading cause of cancer death in women.
The Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute's medical director Dr. Louise E. Morrell is using AI to assist with mammography scans. Morell's Institute is part of Baptist Health Cancer Care.
“(Artificial Intelligence) adds on the ability to process an incredible amount of data from that mammogram that isn't caught by the naked eye. So, it can look at the background, what is that tissue like around that finding, and therefore figure out where is an abnormality that really needs more investigation," said Dr. Morrell.
Dr. Morrell says they conducted a study in 2020 using the technology called Profound AI. The study compared the screening results of about 50,000 women without AI and about 48,000 women whose scans were used with AI.
See also:The Race For Annexation: Officials defend their motives
"The study that was done, which was comparing expert mammography readers, without AI and with AI and showing that they found 23% more breast cancers,” said Dr. Morrell. "Out of a group of 100, they (radiologists) might have 100 breast cancers, they would find 123 cases."
Their findings required no extra biopsies or imaging. The technology is incorporated into every mammogram reading and is finding cancer sooner.
According to Dr. Morrell, AI can find things as small as a tiny seed up to two years sooner than without AI.
“We saw somebody today. We reviewed their mammogram, three millimeters, three millimeters, a three millimeter is like a little seed. This is as small as you could ever expect. I don't think I ever would have seen those early breast cancers in our patients, except if it was like an accident as part of another tissue that was removed. And, so, the advantages are that we can find them very tiny," said Dr. Morrell.
According to Dr. Morrell, radiologists look at thousands of these scans. They're looking for irregular density or lines of calcification that might be indicators for early breast cancer. And for some patients, it's extremely hard to determine cancerous spots. Profound AI scans the mammogram images for any possible cancer spots. If it comes across a problem area it will circle it and give it a number on a scale for the likelihood of cancer. After the program looks at the scans, the radiologist will examine the image and consider the patient's age and risk factors to determine if the area needs to be looked at further.
Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute radiologist Dr. Juliette The showed CBS12 News scans where AI caught an irregular area.
"(The AI program) assigned the degree of suspicion, and based on that and what we thought was suspicious. We worked it up further with ultrasound and then ultimately a CESM with the CESM, biopsy yielding malignancy," said Dr. The.
Florida Atlantic University College of Engineering & Computer Science Associate Professor Behnaz Ghoraani, Ph.D. says AI is revolutionizing diagnostic care and becoming an indispensable tool for doctors.
“You can use AI to actually get more insight into a patient because not every disease is the same. And people have different profiles, different patterns of showing the disease and different symptoms," said Ghoraani.
Ghoraani says while AI is a great tool, it's merely supplementing doctors with patient care.
“It's not about replacing the expertise it's helping and complementing and, you know, empowering physicians to do what they're good at," said Ghoraani.
Since this technology is helping find something when it’s this small, it is translating to higher cures and sometimes takes the need for treatment like chemotherapy off the table. This is crucial when it comes to a disease like cancer where early detection is key because the earlier you catch it, the easier it is to treat.
“The first line of defense is finding it very early and being able to remove that abnormal tissue and maybe it's less tissue that you have to remove," said Dr. Morrell. "Every woman knows that they have some risk of breast cancer, but everybody's risk is not the same. Everybody's mammogram is not the same. There's genetic risk, there's family history, there's other risk factors. We are all about individualizing that and making sure that we're paying attention to all of those details and customizing the screening and recommendations that we can make."
But Dr. Morrell is confident if you get a scan here, you can walk away fully reassured of your results.
"At the time of the reading of the mammogram, the radiologist is looking at the mammogram in our center, when you have a mammogram done here, you're going to have it read before you leave. So, before you leave, you're leaving with a full read that includes the input from the Artificial Intelligence Component," said Dr. Morrell. "This is yet another big advancement in being able to be sure that the accuracy and the self-confidence that you can have when you walk away with a normal test is that everything is all right."
However, she says just because you had one good scan does not mean you won't need another yearly scan in the future.
"If you put your seatbelt on every day of your life, and then you decide to stop wearing it. It won't matter. That's when you have your accident. You have to keep wearing your seatbelt. Your previous negative mammograms don't give you a pass on the future," said Dr. Morrell.
