reading & research

Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: Predicting Prostate Cancer Progression During Active Surveillance

“Despite increasing adoption of active surveillance (AS) for low-risk prostate cancer, AS discontinuation rates are high, investigators report.” This quote, from a September 2021 Renal & Urology News report, referred to a study of over 16,000 Canadian prostate cancer (PCa) patients who had been diagnosed with low risk disease from 2008-2014. 51% of these patients […] CONTINUE

Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: AI Improves Accuracy of Lung Cancer Diagnosis

Medical school is not for the faint of heart, and just as in other professions, passing an exam to qualify for licensure is a dreaded ritual. The Royal College of Radiologists is not a “college” the way we normally think of such an institution. It is a society chartered to promote the science and clinical […] CONTINUE

Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: AI Contribution to Wound Assessment and Care

Go online and do a search for “how to measure a wound.” You will find general principles, but you’ll also discover small variations in instructions on how to measure an open wound. How long is it? How wide? Are there irregular spaces below the skin surface or the floor of the wound where infection could […] CONTINUE

How to Use a Medical “Group Mind” to Train Artificial Intelligence

No one is born knowing the names of all the objects around them. We learn them as parents, older siblings and others show us the object and say its name, or point to things in picture books and repeat the word that matches it. We learn words like cup, ball, shoe, bunny, blanket for items […] CONTINUE

Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: Predicting Alzheimer’s Disease Based on Accelerated Brain Aging

Dementia is not fun. The symptoms and conditions that signal mental deterioration are a slow and inexorable crumbling process that eventually incapacitates a person. This process places burdens on the individual patient, his or her loved ones, and even society as people are living longer. According to the Alzheimer’s Foundation, “Dementia is a general term […] CONTINUE

Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: AI Finds Incidental Prostate Cancer in Routine CT Scans

Imagine this scenario. Your doctor orders a pelvic CT scan to check if the pain you’re experiencing is due to a kidney stone or other blockage. After the scan, he says, “I’m happy to tell you there’s no evidence of stones and your kidney looks fine. Oh, and incidentally, you have prostate cancer.” Of course, […] CONTINUE

Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: AI Brings to Light Signature Writing of the Dead Sea Scrolls

What do the Great Sea Scrolls have in common with diagnosing disease? This blog takes a detour from Artificial Intelligence (AI) in medicine to a different realm before circling back to clinical use: how many individual scribes contributed to the Dead Sea Scrolls? The Dead Sea Scrolls In 1946, a treasure trove of ancient Jewish […] CONTINUE

Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: The Use of AI is a Mark of Distinction for Sperling Medical Group

In 1854, Henry David Thoreau wrote, “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.” The metaphor of marching to the beat of a different drum is an apt one for the Sperling Prostate Center and Sperling Medical Group, especially when it comes to incorporating […] CONTINUE

Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: Predicting Mental Illness Based on Facebook Posts

Sharing who we are, what we think, how we feel, etc. is human nature. We want to be connected with others. We are curious to learn from them, from simple information to what it means to be human. Today, social media platforms like Facebook have exploded the number of people with whom an individual can […] CONTINUE

Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: Neural Network Model Can Predict Shape of a Protein

By analyzing thousands of known proteins and their physical shapes, a neural network can learn to predict the shapes of others.[i] Imagine you are a biologist who has spent your career devoted to a puzzle that could change the future of medicine—yet reaching your deathbed without the answer? Perhaps, as you breathe your last, you […] CONTINUE