Supercomputer has diagnosed a rare type of leukemia

IBM Watson physician decision support technology has helped Japanese doctors to diagnose a rare type of leukemia and determine the appropriate treatment.

According to Arinobu Tojio, a professor of molecular therapy from the Institute of Medical Sciences of the University of Tokyo, the patient was initially diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (blood disease characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal immature white blood cells). The patient successfully underwent chemotherapy, but her recovery proceeded slowly. This prompted the doctors to think that the diagnosis was incorrect.

To test their hypothesis, the doctors turned for help to IBM, which developed IBM Watson supercomputer. The system is able to analyze thousands of genetic mutations, as well as process data from recent scientific studies. Based on the analysis, the supercomputer presents the most likely diagnosis and treatment regimen taking into account the individual characteristics of the patient.

The doctor explained that in order to manually check which of the thousands of mutations were important for diagnosis, it would take several weeks. Watson did it in 10 minutes.

Tojo also said that starting from July last year, Watson helped to diagnose various hematologic diseases in 70–80 out of 100 cases accurately. 

SOURCE: VADEMEC