New study conducted by an international team of researchers suggests that Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be better than highly-trained humans at detecting certain skin cancers
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been working its way into health technology for several years and, so far, AI tools have been a boon to physicians and health networks. Until now, though, the general view was that it was a supplemental tool for diagnosticians, not a replacement for them. But what if the AI was better at detecting disease than humans, including anatomic pathologists?
Researchers in the Department of Dermatology at Heidelberg University in Germany have concluded that AI can be more accurate at identifying certain cancers. The challenge they designed for their study involved skin biopsies and dermatologists.
They pitted a deep-learning convolutional neural network (CNN) against 58 dermatologists from 17 countries to determine which was more accurate at detecting malignant melanomas—humans or AI. A CNN is an artificial network based on the biological processes that occur when neurons in the brain are connected to each other and respond to what the eye sees.
“For the first time we compared a CNN’s diagnostic performance with a large international group of 58 dermatologists, including 30 experts. Most dermatologists were outperformed by the CNN. Irrespective of any physicians’ experience, they may benefit from assistance by a CNN’s image classification,” the report noted.
The researchers published their report in the Annals of Oncology, a peer-reviewed medical journal published by Oxford University Press that is the official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology.
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The dermatologists who participated in the study had varying degrees of experience in dermoscopy, also known as dermatoscopy. Thirty of the doctors had more than five-year’s experience and were considered to be expert level. Eleven of the dermatologists were considered “skilled” with two- to five-year’s experience. The remaining 17 doctors were termed beginners with less than two-year’s experience.
To perform the study, the researchers first compiled a set of 100 dermoscopic images that showed melanomas and benign moles called Nevi. Dermoscopes (or dermatoscopes) create images using a magnifying glass and light source pressed against the skin. The resulting magnified, high-resolution images allow for easier, more accurate diagnoses than inspection with the naked eye.
During the first stage of the research, the dermatologists were asked to diagnose whether a lesion was melanoma or benign by looking at the images with their naked eyes. They also were asked to render their opinions for any needed action, such as surgery and follow-up care based on their diagnoses.
After this part of the study, the dermatologists on average identified 86.6% of the melanomas and 71.3% of the benign moles. More experienced doctors identified the melanomas at 89%, which was slightly higher than the average of the group.
The researchers also showed 300 images of malignant and benign skin lesions to the CNN. The AI accurately identified 95% of the melanomas by analyzing the images.
