AI tool shows promise for treating brain cancer, study finds

While the tool is not as accurate as current genetic tests, the computer system can predict a tumour’s profile almost instantly. — Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik

An artificial-intelligence tool has shown promise at helping doctors fight aggressive brain tumours by identifying characteristics that help guide surgery.

The tool – called the Cryosection Histopathology Assessment and Review Machine, or CHARM – studies images to quickly pick out the genetic profile of a kind of tumour called glioma, a process that currently takes days or weeks, said Kun-Hsing Yu, senior author of a report released July 14 in the journal Med. Surgeons use detailed diagnoses to guide them while they operate, Yu said, and the ability to get them rapidly could improve patients’ outcomes and spare them from multiple surgeries.