Method uses artificial intelligence to detect cancer in 30 minutes

Early detection of cancer may be one of the best strategies for effective treatment in patients diagnosed with the disease and offers greater chances of survival. The new research explains that it is possible to analyze cells in samples taken from patients. cancer and detect disease quickly with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) — the method does not require the help of a doctor.

Using biopsy samples of solid colon tissue from humans and mice, a team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) in Germany were able to analyze single cells from biopsies in real time using the fluorescence cytometry technique. deformability (RT-FDC) — RT-FDC is a microfluidic technique that allows you to evaluate the physical properties of up to 1,000 unique cells per second.

In the study published in the scientific journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, The researchers explain that the AI ​​model created for the method is fed with large datasets and can assess whether a tissue is cancerous in up to 30 minutes. If the technology is applied, patients will not need the help of a pathologist, a professional responsible for analyzing tissues, body fluids and organs.

Cancer detection and AI

“When you go to your doctor, he not only looks at you, but also does a physical exam and feels parts of your body. With traditional methods used to analyze a biopsy sample, a pathologist can only look at cells. One of the research team scientists at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Erlangen, Dr. Marketa Kubanková.

Today, doctors perform common biopsy tests to prove a cancer diagnosis, and in most cases, it’s common for doctors to examine biopsies during an operation – while the patient is sedated on the operating table, the doctor performs several actions to analyze. biopsy. Therefore, the new method may become a cheaper, more accurate and faster option, as it is approximately 36,000 times faster than older cell analysis methods.

Anyway, the scientists claim that the method could also be helpful in detecting and analyzing other diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, but they still need to delve deeper into the research.