Researchers at Chulalongkorn University, a public university in Thailand, have developed an AI-based system to detect gastrointestinal diseases.
WHAT IT DOES
according to dr Peerapon Vateekul, a member of the research team at Chula Engineering, uses DeepGI (Deep Technology for Gastrointestinal Tracts) to detect abnormal tissue in the colon that is indicative of early colon neoplasms such as: B. polyps, with an accuracy of over 90%.
The software uses deep learning, a machine learning technique, and is trained on colonoscopy data images collected since 2019 with support from Chulalongkorn University Technology Center and ESM Solutions Co.
The system can also create a characterization of detected polyps and identify them as neoplastic (cancerous) or hyperplastic (benign) without the need for a biopsy.
WHY IT MATTERS
Colon cancer is the third most common type of cancer in Thais. About 15 million seniors aged 50 and over are said to be at risk of the disease.Unfortunately there is only around a thousand endoscopists who are available in the country to perform colonoscopies.
Additionally, current standard approaches to diagnosing colorectal cancer include colonoscopy, or lower gastrointestinal endoscopy, which the researchers said have shown limitations in different forms of polyps in terms of shape, size, and color. They found that up to 22% of tests can be flawed.
dr Peerapon hopes that their AI polyp detection tool will be “widely used as an aid to practicing endoscopists in other hospitals, particularly in the community where there is a shortage of medical and technological staff.”
The technology has been applied to real patients at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital since late last year.
Aside from being vendor agnostic, DeepGI can also be extended to detect abnormal biopsies in other parts of the human body. dr Peerapon shared that her team wants to test the system in other organs, such as the stomach and bile ducts.
The research team is currently in the process of applying for a national patent for their polyp detection software.
MARKET SNAPSHOT
Over the past year, some new AI diagnostic support tools have been released Gastrointestinal anomalies.
Chinese start-up Wision AI received a CE mark in November for the launch of its AI polyp detection software EndoScreener in Europe.
Japanese electronics company NEC had released its own tool to support AI diagnostics in Japan WISE VISION endoscopy, which also automatically marks potential lesions in the colon.
