The organisations Guerbet and IBM Watson Health are collaborating to develop an artificial intelligence tool designed to support the diagnosis and care of liver cancer. The source article can be read here, at Globe Newswire.
About Liver Cancer
Liver cancer is a form of cancer that originates in the liver (rather than spreads to it). Often, this form of cancer does not show any symptoms until it has reached a late stage. Possible signs of liver cancer may include weight loss, sickness, abdominal swelling, itching, jaundice, and tiredness, amongst others.
According to Cancer Research UK, over 782,000 people were diagnosed with liver cancer in 2012 worldwide, 63,500 of who were diagnosed in Europe. The incidence rates of liver cancer are increasing; since the early 1990s liver cancer incidence has increased by an estimated 151% in the UK, and the current figures are predicted to continue rising in the future.
About the Artificial Intelligence Software
The artificial intelligence (AI) software is being developed as an aid to diagnosis and care for patients with liver cancer.
It will be called the Watson Imaging Care Advisor for Liver and is designed to be used as a tool to help clinicians with factors such as cancer detection, tracking, staging, monitoring, therapy prediction, and therapy response. It is hoped to support clinicians make informed judgements and decisions in their treatment of patients with liver cancer.
This AI tool for supporting the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with liver cancer is planned to be one of several medical technologies in which IBM Watson is closely involved in development. A spokesperson said that they believe AI technologies can be used to help clinicians become “more informed in their diagnostic and treatment decisions.”
The Collaborating Companies
The technology will be co-developed by both Guerbet, a global specialist in medical imaging, and IBM Watson Health, a part of IBM that works on using AI and data for healthcare.
