New technology being developed by researchers at the University of Waterloo and the Sunnybrook Research Institute is using artificial intelligence (AI) to help detect melanoma skin cancer earlier.
“This could be a very powerful tool for skin cancer clinical decision support,” said Alexander Wong, a professor of systems design engineering at Waterloo. “The more interpretable information there is, the better the decisions are.”
The AI system—trained using tens of thousands of skin images and their corresponding eumelanin and hemoglobin levels—could initially reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies, a significant health-care cost. It gives doctors objective information on lesion characteristics to help them rule out melanoma before taking more invasive action. The technology could be available to doctors as early as next year.