SAN DIEGO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 26, 2021 / For most of the history of medical research, women were cropped out of the picture. It wasn't until 1993 that Congress mandated women be represented in NIH-funded medical trials - before that, the vast majority of studies were conducted primarily on men. This has contributed to the severe discrepancies between the quality of care received by men and that received by women today.
Just because the gap is large doesn't mean that it can't be closed. A small number of firms are now trying to use ground-breaking technology in order to ensure that all women get the level of medical care they deserve. This could mean anything from mRNA vaccines for breast cancer to more personalized outpatient care, but one technology is, for good reason, getting the biggest spotlight these days: artificial intelligence.
AI is in the process of transforming just about every sector of the economy, but nowhere will its impact be felt stronger than in healthcare. One of the companies leading the charge in this push is CureMetrix, a medical imaging technology company bringing AI into the mix in new and exciting ways.
The Future of Imaging
When a radiologist is looking at an x-ray or mammogram, they're checking for any indication - no matter how small - that something may warrant further investigation or treatment by a medical professional. For radiologists that work at busy clinics or large imaging centers, this is a process that needs to be repeated many times throughout the day, meaning that even the slightest bit of assistance could ease their burden significantly.
That's where cmTriage, one of CureMetrix's marquee software solutions, comes into play. cmTriage analyzes and helps sort a radiologist's mammography workload, highlighting the cases that warrant immediate attention. On its default settings, cmTriage could help radiologists find between 1 and 2 additional instances of cancer per 1,000 screenings - while that may not sound like a lot at first, keep in mind the tremendous impact that even just a single additional detection can make for a patient. Systems like cmTriage represent huge strides for the world of women's healthcare, combating the menace of breast cancer one case at a time.
Improving Efficiency and Accuracy
Traditional computer-aided detection (CAD) radiology software often has high false-positive rates, worsening the average patient experience and making the entire process that much less efficient. Large medical practices could waste up to hundreds of working hours annually on the problems caused by false positives.
In order to help circumvent this issue and improve sensitivity and specificity for the radiologist, CureMetrix developed cmAssist, an AI-enabled "extra pair of eyes" designed to assist radiologists in the assessment process. One study conducted found that cmAssist AI CAD reduced the incidence of false positives by some 69% over traditional, non-AI CAD. Another study found that cmAssist was able to help radiologists find 27% more cancers up to six years earlier. Numbers like these can make a world of difference not just for medical practitioners but for their patients as well. The more mammograms that can be assessed quickly and correctly, the better the care that patients will receive in the long run.
CureMetrix is also in the process of developing tools to contribute more to the process and reporting of mammography, as well as cancer identification. Significant tissue density can decrease the accuracy of mammograms by masking tumors, so understanding the breast density of a patient is valuable. The cmDensity reporting tool helps radiologists more consistently classify and report on breast density with the support of its AI algorithm.
Extending the Value of AI to Support Women's Health
And CureMetrix isn't stopping there. Though it is still in the development phase, cmAngio by CureMetrix is also poised to be the next groundbreaking development in the field. Heart disease is the number one killer of women, and many women have it and don't even know it. By assessing anomalies found in a mammogram, cmAngio can evaluate a woman's risk of coronary heart disease. That means no new test, no more radiation, and the 40 million women per year who have a mammogram in the U.S. could know their risk of heart disease in addition to breast cancer. Knowing this information is key in helping her take action to manage her ongoing health.
As the capabilities of technologies like these grow, women will be able to get more and more out of just a single trip to their doctor. While the world of women's healthcare still has a lot of ground to make up, companies like CureMetrix are ensuring that the right movements are happening faster than ever - and AI is helping make it happen.
CONTACT:
General Inquiries
Phone: 858-333-5830
Email: [email protected]
SOURCE: CureMetrix