谷歌称人工智能对乳腺癌检测准确率达99%

Google: AI Found Breast Cancer with 99 Percent Accuracy

Google says it is deeply involved in developing artificial intelligence, or AI, to help doctors identify and treat disease.

The company previously¹ announced successful tests of machine learning systems designed to assist doctors.

In one case, Google reported AI had examined images to diagnose diabetic eye disease with equal accuracy to doctors. Other tests showed that machine learning can be used to study massive amounts of patient data to predict future medical events.

Now the company has published two new studies showing a high level of success in identifying one of the deadliest forms of cancer. Google carried out tests with researchers from the Naval² Medical Center San Diego. Google reported the findings on its AI website and results were also published in scientific journals.

Using AI to detect metastatic cancer

The tests involved machine learning methods to examine digitized images of body tissue samples for signs of metastatic breast cancer. Metastatic means cancer that has spread from its main area to other parts of the body.

This kind of cancer is among the most difficult to identify and treat. Metastatic breast cancer is also one of the deadliest, causing an estimated 90 percent of all breast cancer deaths worldwide.

In metastatic breast cancer patients, the cancer often travels to nearby lymph nodes. Usually doctors examine lymph node tissue samples under a microscope to see whether cancer is present.

It is important for doctors to identify metastatic cancer as quickly as possible to prevent further spreading. The process is also important to help make decisions about treatments.

Google notes that previous studies have shown that up to one-fourth of metastatic lymph node classifications end up being changed after a second examination. In addition, studies show that small metastatic material can be missed up to 67 percent of the time when examinations happen under extreme time restrictions³.

Google says it created a mathematical algorithm that greatly improves this accuracy rate. The algorithm, called Lymph Node Assistant, is trained to find characteristics of tissue affected⁴ by metastatic cancer. When the system examined tissue images, it was able to differentiate⁵ between metastatic cancer and non-cancer 99 percent of the time, Google reported.

In addition, the company said the Lymph Node Assistant was highly effective at finding the positions of the cancers. Some of these positions would be too small for doctors themselves to identify, Google added.

The research also showed that the algorithm method can reduce the usual time needed to examine a sample by about 50 percent.

The system was designed with extreme sensitivity to “exhaustively” examine every part of a tissue sample, the researchers wrote in their paper.

AI not meant to replace doctors

But Google makes clear the AI-based system is not meant to replace the work of medical professionals. Instead, it is designed to reduce the number of false identifications and help doctors work faster and more effectively.

The studies suggest that “people and algorithms can work together effectively to perform better than either alone,” Google said in a statement.

The company says that clearly more AI research and experiments will be necessary to further progress in the fight against breast cancer. But it is hopeful that “deep learning technologies and well-designed clinical tools” can be continually developed to improve accuracy and availability for patients worldwide.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

artificial intelligence – n. ability of a machine to use and analyze⁶ data in an attempt to reproduce human behavior

diagnose – v. to identify what is wrong with a sick person

accuracy – n. how correct or exact something is

lymph node – n. any one of many rounded masses of tissue in the body through which lymph passes to be filtered and cleaned

classification – n. the process of putting people or things into groups by their type, size, etc.

algorithm – n. set of steps that are followed in order to solve a mathematical problem or to complete a computer process

characteristic – n. typical or obvious quality that makes one person or thing different from others

sensitivity – n. able to measure very small changes

exhaustive – adj. detailed⁷ and complete

clinical – adj. relating to examining and treating sick people

1 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

2 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 differentiate   

vi.(between)区分；vt.区别；使不同

参考例句：

• You can differentiate between the houses by the shape of their chimneys.你可以凭借烟囱形状的不同来区分这两幢房子。
• He never learned to differentiate between good and evil.他从未学会分辨善恶。

6 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

7 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。