The Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh has begun a multi-institutional research project comprising cancer patients using an artificial intelligence (AI) tool, in collaboration with Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) in Mumbai, AIIMS in New Delhi, and the Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute in New Delhi.
This project involves the PGI gathering dataset of cancer-related radiology and pathology images from Indian patients and digitally storing them. The AI tools created from this database will be highly accurate when used on Indian patients. This aids the general radiologist or a pathologist to provide a precise diagnosis and expert assistance, simply with a click of the button.
The software requires the CT scan or pathology images to be loaded into it, enabling the computer to generate the report/diagnosis automatically. It will act as a screening tool by distinguishing between normal and abnormal and, as a result, aid in prioritizing cases that will actually require the opinion of an expert, sparing a lot of time and money, explained Dr. Mandeep Garg, Professor, Department of Radiodiagnosis, and the project’s principal investigator from the PGI, Chandigarh.
This is India’s unique project. Though there are many such open-access databases available that have greatly aided cancer research in the West, our scientists’ experience with images from these repositories has been far from satisfactory because this data is primarily derived from western patients and does not directly replicate the Indian population. As a result, it prompted us to create our own Indian database, Dr. Garg explained.
The database that will be developed will have an edge over the current western databases since it will be far more explanatory and exhaustive. It is inclusive of both radiology DICOM images and pathology whole-slide images. We will connect it to clinical, genetic, follow-up, and treatment outcome data. It will also include expert-verified annotations, which are lacking in other databases, Dr. Garg added.
Though early diagnosis and treatment of cancer play a vital role in obtaining successful results, there is a scarcity of accomplished onco-radiologists and onco-pathologists in the country. As a result, patients’ waiting time to reach a correct diagnosis is increased, thereby delaying the start of their treatment, according to Dr. Garg.
Dr. Garg further stated that they have begun gathering information about patients suffering from lung, head, and neck cancers. The next phase will involve the collection of data from patients with breast and prostate cancer.
We hope that this project will serve as a model for others to follow, paving the way for similar initiatives not only in healthcare but in a variety of other fields, said Dr. MS Sandhu, head of the Department of Radiodiagnosis.
Dr. Garg previously worked on an AI-based research project with IIT- Kharagpur that was funded by the Government of India’s Department of Information Technology (DIT). The current project is supported by the Government of India’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT). Dr. Swapnil Rane of the TMH in Mumbai initiated this project. Prof Amanjit Bal of the Department of Pathology and Dr. Chirag Ahuja of the Department of Radiology is the other PGI co-investigators.
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