Health Spotlight: AI transforms field of medicine
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Artificial intelligence is transforming the field of medicine.
AI is becoming part of everything from diagnosis to treatment and research. It gathers large amounts of medical data to identify patterns, such as which cancers will respond better to different treatments, or which hip replacement will work better for your body type.
Now, AI is working to make colonoscopies better than ever before.
About 106,000 people will be diagnosed with colon cancer this year. More than 52,000 will die from it. A colonoscopy is the best way to protect yourself.
Doctors are using GI Genius to help detect cancerous polyps.
GI Genius is an AI technology that helps identify cancerous spots during a colonoscopy.
A recent study found that the GI Genius scan showed a 14% increase in the detection rate for each physician. In the intermountain health system, Gastroenterologist Nate Merriman says it could save as many as 18 lives every year.
“That’s significant over just five centers. You imagine how many colonoscopy centers we have in the country, how many patients we could save with this,” Merriman said.
Doctors agree early detection is the most important thing they can do to prevent colon cancer and death. It costs up to $250,000 to treat a patient once they are diagnosed with later stage colon cancer.
This story was created from script aired on WISH-TV.