Artificial Intelligence may diagnose dementia in a day
Artificial intelligence has already been used to spot eye diseases, generate medical diagnoses, and discover early signs of any cancer. Now an artificial intelligence system is presently undergoing clinical testing by scientists for its potential to diagnose dementia after a single brain scan.
It may also be able to provide information to conclude whether the ailment will remain stable for a certain time, slowly worsen or need immediate medical attention.
A researcher at Cambridge University and a fellow of the national centre for AI and data science, The Alan Turing Institute, Professor Zoe Kourtzi, developed the algorithm.
She states that if they are able to intervene early, treatments can be given early and thereby would slow down the progression of the disease and may even avert more damage.
The system compares the scans of those who are concerned they may have dementia to those of the thousands of patients with dementia and their pertinent medical records. It then identifies patterns in the scans which expert neurologists cannot see and then matches the data to patient outcomes in its database.
During pre-trial tests, the algorithm was able to detect dementia years before the onset of symptoms and also in cases when the brain scans reveal no obvious damage.
The trials will be conducted at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and other memory clinics with the aim to test whether the system will work in a clinical setting side by side with other conventional ways of treating dementia.
About 500 patients are expected to participate in the trial. These results will be passed on to doctors who will in turn give advice on the course of treatment.
Consultant neurologist Dr Tim Rittman, who is also leading the study, with neuroscientists at Cambridge University, says that the system is a fantastic development to help patients plan their lives.
One of the participants of the trial is 75-year-old retired executive, Denis Clark. His wife, Penelope, noticed his difficulty with his memory last year and now they are both concerned Denis is developing dementia. They are hoping to be able to receive an early diagnosis on the likelihood of the progression of the disease.
They will help them to plan financial matters and future travels together before the disease gets worse.
Takeaway Points:
- An artificial intelligence system has the potential to diagnose dementia after a single brain scan.
- The system may be able to provide information to conclude whether the ailment will remain stable for a certain time, slowly worsen or need immediate medical attention.
- A researcher at Cambridge University and a fellow of the national centre for AI and data science, Prof Zoe Kourtzi, developed the algorithm.
- What the system does is to compare the scans of those who are concerned they may have dementia to those patients with dementia and their pertinent medical records and then identifies patterns in the scans which even expert neurologists cannot see and then match them to information on patient outcomes in the database.
- During pre-trial tests, the algorithm was able to detect dementia years before the onset of symptoms and even when the brain scans reveal no obvious damage.
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