Google’s artificial intelligence can detect tumours with a 92% accuracy rate and is quicker than human doctors

Home / Diagnostic / Google’s artificial intelligence can detect tumours with a 92% accuracy rate and is quicker than human doctors
March 08, 2017March 8, 2017
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  • Currently the process of diagnosing cancer can take weeks or even months
  • However, DeepMind is on the verge of becoming a much quicker method
  • Owned by Google’s parent company, it is also more accurate than humans
  • It could also be used to see if the disease has spread to other parts of the body

Artificial intelligence has been likened to ‘summoning the devil’ by Elon Musk.

But the super-smart machines could also save millions of lives, experts now claim.

Scientists are adamant that Google’s computer could be used to diagnose cancer much quicker than current methods.

While it can also detect 92.4 per cent of tumours it scans for – making it more accurate than human doctors.

Scientists are adamant that artificial intelligence could be used to diagnose cancer - and much quicker than current methods

Scientists are adamant that artificial intelligence could be used to diagnose cancer – and much quicker than current methods

In comparison, doctors have an estimated accuracy rate of around 73.2 per cent, The Mirror reports.

The programme, owned by Alphabet, is currently being tested to decipher between cancerous and healthy tissue.

While it could also be used in the future to see if the disease has spread to other parts of the body.

‘Metastasis detection is currently performed by pathologists reviewing large expanses of biological tissues,’ the company said.

‘This process is labour intensive and error-prone.’

Currently the process takes weeks, with doctors scanning tissue samples under a microscope to determine if someone has the disease.

Owned by Alphabet, Google's parent company, DeepMind claims it can detect 92.4 per cent of tumours it scans for

Owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company, DeepMind claims it can detect 92.4 per cent of tumours it scans for

HIBERNATE TO CURE CANCER

Doctors could cure cancer by placing people in a form of hibernation, a leading scientist said last month.

By dropping body temperature from the normal 37C (99F) to around 13-15C (55-59F) it is hoped the body’s functions would slow to a virtual standstill.

This would allow doctors more time to treat tumours – especially when they have spread around the body. It would also make treatment more effective, as inactive tissues respond better to radiotherapy.

But the software isn’t able to pick up any irregularities that a human doctor could possibly notice.

This comes a day after scientists revealed that a blood test for cancer can now show where in the body a tumour is growing.

Scientists from the University of California San Diego said that it will replace the need for painful biopsies by detecting the DNA released by dying tumour cells.

While experts last month claimed that a simple and cheap nose swab could soon detect lung cancer in smokers.

Smoking damages the cells in the lining of the nostrils involved in smell, research from the Boston University School of Medicine showed.

Detecting these changes can accurately predict whether the patients have tumours without having to perform a biopsy.