hi INDiA Copyright 2022-2050
BOSTON, MS — Researchers, including one Indian American, have developed a new computer model based on artificial intelligence that can quantify the extent of kidney damage and predict the life remaining in the organ.
The findings can help make predictions at the point-of-care and assist clinical decision-making.
“While the trained eyes of expert pathologists are able to gauge the severity of disease and detect nuances of kidney damage with remarkable accuracy, such expertise is not available in all locations,” said Vijaya Kolachalama, assistant professor at Boston University.
The machine learning framework based on convolutional neural networks relied on pixel density of digitized images, while the severity of disease was determined by several clinical laboratory measures and renal survival.
CNN model performance was then compared with that of the models generated using the amount of fibrosis reported by a nephropathologist as the sole input and corresponding lab measures and renal survival as the outputs.
“In essence, our model has the potential to act as a surrogate nephropathologist, especially in resource-limited settings,” Kolachalama added.