August 26, 2022 – Northwell Health and South Shore University Hospital (SSUH) now offer patients receiving a colonoscopy enhanced screening with the aid of GI Genius intelligent endoscopy module, an artificial intelligence (AI) diagnostic tool.
The deep learning technology uses a database of 13 million images to detect abnormalities in real-time that might be missed by the naked eye. The AI software uses an algorithm similar to facial recognition to identify possible lesions in the colon by highlighting them with a green square.
Colon cancer is the second-most-common cause of cancer deaths in the United States. But if caught early the chance for survival can be as high as 90 percent. Diagnostic procedures like colonoscopy use a specialized scope to examine the entire length of the large intestine and the lower part of the small intestine and can help with diagnosis, as well as determine the stage of cancer.
“With colonoscopy, we know that we can significantly decrease the incidence of colorectal cancer,” said Aaron Harrison, MD, associate medical director at SSUH and gastroenterologist. “But with GI Genius, it’s now two visual participants during the colonoscopy trying to improve the detection of lesions. It helps me spot polyps that otherwise could have been missed. Decreasing the miss rate of potentially cancerous polyps will undoubtedly save even more lives.”
GI Genius has an overall sensitivity rate per lesion of 99 percent and is 82 percent faster at spotting a lesion than the average endoscopist. The first patient to receive a colonoscopy in Northwell using GI Genius said it helped detect a polyp early.