Artificial intelligence could improve breast cancer screenings

NSU computer science graduate develops unique software

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – One of the best ways to find breast cancer is through mammography, but like any technology, it's not foolproof and there are cancers that could be overlooked.

That's what motivated Anabetsy Rivero to develop a software program that can improve the accuracy of breast cancer diagnosis.

While earning her master's degree in computer science at Nova Southeastern University, Rivero created a program that can detect microscopic changes in breast tissue, pixel by pixel.

"The human eye is very good at determining patterns, but what happens is some of these patterns are microscopic, and it's very difficult for the human eye to detect differences on the pixel level," Rivero said. "And these programs are able to determine that in real time so that the doctors can practice more patient-centric medicine rather than spending hours behind the screen looking for these patterns." 

Rivero hopes to have her program in use by late spring 2019.
 


About the Author:

Veteran journalist Kathleen Corso is the special projects producer for Local 10 News.