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Rwandan scientists are part of a team that is researching how artificial intelligence (AI) can be used in diagnosing and treating cancers as well as in carrying out measurements for unborn babies’ biometrics.
The research is part of the work being carried out at IRCAD Africa in Kigali, where Rwandan scientists are teaming up with their French counterparts from IRCAD Paris.
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IRCAD Africa, which is under IRCAD France, was inaugurated in Kigali in October last year, as a centre devoted to training, research and development in minimally invasive surgery.
One of the initiatives that are taking place at IRCAD Africa is the Disrumpere project (Disrumpere: Democratisation of automatic diagnosis, screening, biometrics and augmented percutaneous surgery assisted by artificial intelligence), a collaborative effort involving a Franco-Rwandan team of 20-30 members.
The project seeks to ease access to tumour diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment by employing cost-effective equipment and harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to reduce reliance on skilled operators.
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According to IRCAD, the initiative’s goal is to address the scarcity of medical professionals in underserved areas in Africa and worldwide.
Measuring unborn babies’ biometrics
One of the components of the project is the use of AI to measure unborn babies’ biometrics including weight and gestational age, by using AI algorithms to analyse ultrasound images.
Dr Alexandre Hostettler, Head of Surgical Data Science Team at IRCAD France and IRCAD Africa, noted that the team has worked on developing AI algorithms that can automatically evaluate measurements like the unborn baby’s femur length, brain circumference, and abdomen circumference, which are essential in measuring a baby’s biometrics.
“The algorithms have been trained using a very huge amount of data from premium imagers from a lot of countries in the world,” Dr Hostettler noted.
The system is under trial, and according to Dr. Hostettler, the scientists are trying to record data to fine-tune and optimise the algorithms for even easier use for people without medical training.
He noted that at the beginning of next year, once the various algorithms are optimised, it will be possible to use the computer application to make more clinical trials to prove that in just two minutes, such measurements can be carried out by a person who has been trained for just about two hours.
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Using AI in detecting cancers
The Disrumpere employs ultrasound technology to develop cost-effective medical imaging assisted by artificial intelligence, accessible even to non-experts through portable probes.
The project aims to democratise percutaneous surgery employing ultrasound guidance for biopsies or the treatment of small cancerous tumours using needles.
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Dr. Hostettler, for example, says through such technology, tumours inside the liver can be detected in real time. In addition, it can be used to carry out biopsies and even treatment.
“Once we have been able to find early-stage potential cancer, the idea could be to position a needle in the centre of the target in order to make a biopsy to be sure that it’s pathological or not. But we can also try to destroy the tumour using radio frequency ablation,” he noted.
Professor Jacques Marescaux, founder and Chairman of IRCAD France, underscored the significance of such medical approaches by citing a 2021 World Health Organisation report.
The report noted that approximately five billion people lack access to medical imaging, and approximately two billion people do not have access to even the most fundamental surgical procedures, and minimally invasive surgery remains inadequately accessible worldwide, with particular disparities in Africa.
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