Technology applied to early cancer detection
The 2018 European Commission[1] defined AI as a system that displays intelligent behavior by analyzing its environment and taking action – with some degree of autonomy – to achieve specific goals.
Meanwhile, the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (US)[2] states that the term ‘‘artificial intelligence’’ means a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations or decisions influencing real or virtual environments. Artificial intelligence systems use machine and human-based inputs to
- (A) perceive real and virtual environments.
- (B) abstract such perceptions into models through analysis in an automated manner; and
- (C) use model inference to formulate options for information or action.
Uses of artificial intelligence in healthcare
The adoption of AI in healthcare is promising. It already helps to simplify the lives of patients, doctors, and hospital managers. This technology has the potential to revolutionize and transform many aspects of patient care and the way we diagnose and treat disease.
AI offers several advantages in healthcare, allowing humans to gain unprecedented insight into diagnostics, treatments, and patient outcomes.
Some types of AI are already being used by hospitals, doctors, life sciences companies, and patients. Some examples of them are the following:
Natural language processing (NLP) is one of the most useful forms of AI in healthcare. NLP includes applications such as speech recognition, text analysis, translation, etc. In healthcare it is used to understand and classify clinical documentation and it can also analyze unstructured clinical notes from clinical records and reports. Most patients’ clinical records are written in an unstructured form, so NLP helps us to convert the unstructured form into a structured form to be able to analyze it.
Some reports have shed light on the development of AI technologies within the healthcare sector, analyzing the ways of implementation of AI, and legislation and policy framework to yield the benefits that AI can bring to healthcare system, specifically looking at patients, practitioners, and enterprises.
Furthermore, AI is also revolutionizing precision medicine and with the help of this technology doctors are able to provide the correct treatment to the required patients at the right time, having a better selection of patients. The volume of data generated within the health sector has increased exponentially in the last decade, and healthcare systems are taking advantage of new developed AI methods to process such information, whose potential improves the quality of care and patient outcomes.
This is how we use AI at Amadix
At AMADIX we believe that AI has an important role to play in healthcare, and specifically, it can help us to improve the way we diagnose. AMADIX has foreseen the high potential of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data for developing powerful diagnostic prediction models based on risk factors (beyond age) identified from the patients’ clinical records, which will help us to anticipate the appearance of the disease with higher accuracy.
Developing algorithms with Artificial Intelligence for early cancer diagnosis
PreveCol Software® has been fully developed and validated by Amadix. Through case-control and prospective clinical trials conducted in Spain, Poland and Germany.
The data obtained from these clinical trials have facilitated the approval of the in vitro diagnostic software used by Amadix by the European and Spanish regulatory authorities, thus allowing the commercialisation of the PreveCol® service.
What does this mean for Amadix and PreveCol Software®?
At Amadix we are working on developing algorithms that lead to early diagnosis of cancer.
In addition, we are performing risk factor analysis, using Artificial Intelligence and Big Data from medical history and individual habits.
Thanks to these technologies, we can identify hidden risks, develop predictive models and incorporate these advances into algorithms. This allows us to define new screening populations beyond the age criterion, thus contributing to earlier diagnosis and better quality of life for patients.
Liquid biopsy
What is liquid biopsy?
It is a method for studying and diagnosing tumors in biological fluids, the most common being blood. It is a non-invasive alternative to surgical biopsies.
Blood tests are conducted in order to detect circulating cancerous cells, traces of DNA/RNA or proteins from the tumoral cells circulating in the bloodstream, and other tumor-related biomarkers.
What are its uses?
- A liquid biopsy may be used to help find cancer at an early stage or for screening.
- It may also be used to help plan treatment or to find out how well treatment is working or if cancer has returned.
- It can also provide real-time information about the genomic changes occurring in the tumor.
- After a surgery, liquid biopsies can also help to detect the presence of minimal residual disease, invisible in other imaging tests.
What are its advantages?
A liquid biopsy requires only a small volume of blood, from which plasma or serum can be separated and analyzed for tumor DNA or other cancer indicators. It offers significant advantages as its non-invasive nature makes it safer, more convenient, and therefore a more accepted option among patients.
It is also quicker compared to invasive procedures such as surgical biopsies.
