New research presented at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) shows that the majority of patients welcome AI-driven breast cancer screenings. The study looked at how women felt about AI in mammograms. The majority of respondents were familiar with AI in medicine. Of those, nearly nine in 10 were optimistic about the technology.
The study was presented by radiology resident Ottavia Battaglia, MD, of the Istituto Europeo di Oncologia (IEO) in Milan, Italy. She noted that most women believe radiologists still needed to be involved in the process.
“Our findings suggest that social attitudes to the use of AI to support diagnosis are positive, but women still want human involvement,” Battaglia said. “Specifically, women want to be fully informed about the use of AI in healthcare and they want to retain human interaction in the diagnostic process.”
Why is AI involved in breast cancer screenings?
The National Cancer Institute reports that mammograms correctly identify about 87% of breast cancers during screening. Researchers see AI as a way to potentially improve accuracy, supplementing a radiologist’s reading of a mammogram. AI uses hyper-sensitive algorithms, which scan mammogram images and look for discrepancies. A study published in Radiology: Artificial Intelligence noted that when used alongside a radiologist, AI can identify low-risk mammograms.
“False positives are when you call a patient back for additional testing, and it turns out to be benign,” explained senior author Richard L. Wahl, MD, a professor of radiation oncology and a professor of radiology at Washington University’s Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR). “That causes a lot of unnecessary anxiety for patients and consumes medical resources. This simulation study showed that very low-risk mammograms can be reliably identified by AI to reduce false positives and improve workflows.”
The same team previously worked on an AI program to gauge breast density and identify patients who would benefit from additional screening.
