Technology | 05.27.20
Could AI Testing Replace Doctors in Alzheimer's Prediction and Diagnosis?
by NAMSS Staff
Being Patient (05/11/20) Jensen, Tanner
A Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) study assessed a new artificial intelligence (AI) program that uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans, cognitive impairment measures, and data on age and gender to predict and diagnose Alzheimer's disease. The team fed the AI raw MRI brain scans along with demographic and clinical data on individuals with and without the disease. In feeding the program information from just one sample group, then measuring its predictions for scans from the other cohorts, the researchers found that the AI predicted the scans accurately. The program also exhibited superior predictive capability to human scientists. "If computers can accurately detect debilitating conditions such as Alzheimer's disease using readily available data such as a brain MRI scan, then such technologies have a wide-reaching potential," said BUSM Professor Vijaya Kolachalama. He also suggested that such a tool could potentially assist clinical practice, particularly in memory clinics.
Read the full story from Being Patient.