To read the full story, subscribe or sign in. A 2,000-patient U.K. study has been set up to generate real-world evidence of the value of using AI technology to detect bowel polyps (adenomas) during colonoscopy procedures. The aim is to show whether Medtronic plc's GI Genius system improves the detection of polyps when deployed in both expert centers and non-specialist units, in the routine diagnostic screening of patients referred from primary care or through the national fecal immunochemical testing program.

I've created a new subreddit for us to follow A.I. on the latest links with a detailed tagging system that you can sort (they are called flairs on reddit). Please join me there to follow the best news. This is another way I'm able to contribute to our community, I hope you can as well by sharing the best stories on A.I. from around the web. I found yet another very encouraging story about A.I. in healthcare. With the increasing ability to consistently and accurately process large amounts of data, particularly visual data, computer-aided diagnostic systems are more frequently being used to assist physicians in their work.

Bowel cancer is a big problem, causing more than 16,000 deaths per year in the UK. Many bowel cancers develop from polyps – small growths of the bowel lining that become cancerous over time as their cycle of growth and reproduction becomes more and more abnormal. Detecting and removing polyps is therefore the best strategy we have now for preventing bowel cancer. Polyps can be detected in a few ways, but the best way is colonoscopy (a large bowel camera test), which people often have because they go to their GP with bowel symptoms (such as blood in the poo or a persistent change in the consistency or frequency of their poo), or because they are taking part in the NHS bowel cancer screening programme. Many things have been implemented to improve the ability to detect polyps during a colonoscopy, but these nearly all focus on making more of the bowel lining more visible to the camera.

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized marketing of the GI Genius, the first device that uses artificial intelligence (AI) based on machine learning to assist clinicians in detecting lesions (such as polyps or suspected tumors) in the colon in real time during a colonoscopy. "Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform health care to better assist health care providers and improve patient care. When AI is combined with traditional screenings or surveillance methods, it could help find problems early on, when they may be easier to treat," said Courtney H. Lias, Ph.D. acting director of the GastroRenal, ObGyn, General Hospital and Urology Devices Office in the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health. "Studies show that during colorectal cancer screenings, missed lesions can be a problem even for well-trained clinicians. With the FDA's authorization of this device today, clinicians now have a tool that could help improve their ability to detect gastrointestinal lesions they may have missed otherwise."

Michael Wallace has performed hundreds of colonoscopies in his 20 years as a gastroenterologist. He thinks he's pretty good at recognizing the growths, or polyps, that can spring up along the ridges of the colon and potentially turn into cancer. Sometimes the polyps are flat and hard to see. Other times, doctors just miss them. "We're all humans," says Wallace, who works at the Mayo Clinic.