Colorectal cancer is the third most diagnosed cancer worldwide -after lung and breast cancer- with close to two million new cases each year. Early detection is important to improve the prospects of each patient. Colonoscopy has been, for some time, the essential screening test for this and, thanks to advances in technology, they increasingly offer better detection and removal of polyps for their study.
In this area falls CAD EYE, one of the innovations of the Fujifilm company incorporated in the equipment of the endoscopy areas. It is a software with a function for the characterization of colon polyps that uses a system of Artificial intelligence (AI) based on Deep learning, which “learns” from images and videos. Thanks to this learning, it offers results to health professionals to improve the diagnosis of each patient, generating a histological prediction on the suspicious polyps that appear in the image with which it can be determined if they are hyperplastic or neoplastic.
This technology detects and characterizes lesions, for the moment only in the lower digestive tract, although, with time and this constant learning, it will be able to do the same in the stomach and esophagus area. Combined with LCI chromoendoscopy, the CAD EYE system significantly improves real-time detection of colon polyps and adenomas, up to 100%, especially in flat serrated lesions, which are very difficult to detect.
This is confirmed by the study Artificial intelligence combined with LCI, coordinated by Dr. Helmut Neumann and published in the journal Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. “Increasing the number of endoscopists who can adequately detect and characterize colon polyps is one of the critical issues in the field of gastroenterology,” says Neumann, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Interdisciplinary Endoscopy Center at the University Medical Center Mainz.
“With CAD EYE the learning curve for colonoscopies can be greatly improved. It will mean an increase in the polyp detection rate (PDR), which can even be seen by non-endoscopic experts.”
audible signal
When a suspicious polyp is detected within the endoscopic image, the equipment indicates the area where it is located, accompanied by an audible signal and without the need to carry out complicated operations, such as magnification and image capture, since it is activated automatically.
A software that facilitates the work of professionals and that helps to develop a training task in those endoscopists less experienced in the optical diagnosis of lesions, thus helping them with the diagnostic results. Furthermore, it has the potential to reduce the cost of histopathology by reducing the number of unnecessary biopsies of samples collected during endoscopies.
“Fujifilm’s CAD EYE provides doctors with more information and support in an accurate diagnosis, for patients it provides a complementary tool to the conventional procedure and greater efficiency of its professionals and time savings for the health system,” says Pedro Mesquita , Fujifilm’s general director for Spain and Portugal, who points out that the health area has always formed part of the company’s DNA since it In 1936 they released the first X-ray film.. In the 80s came the first digital radiology system. “Now our broad portfolio of systems includes X-ray, mammography, ultrasound, endoscopy, CT, MR, clinical analysis, as well as IT and AI systems,” he points out.
Mesquita explains that the most important area for Fujifilm in Spain is related to the field of health: it accounts for 45% of the business in our country, compared to 32% worldwide. «We are focused on a strong commitment to reinforce the diagnostic imaging area by developing the application of AI to all areas of equipment. We also expect a strong development of recently incorporated business areas such as assisted reproduction with Fujifilm Irvine Scientific and we do not rule out the possibility of starting new businesses in Iberia that are already being developed in other areas of the world”.
Looking to the future, it is clear that Fujifilm “in addition to being a leading diagnostic imaging equipment company, will continue to develop new businesses related to pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, fields in which we have been working for years.”