Alibaba open-sources AI model detecting cancer, 150 medical conditions

AI model analyses CT scans of 18 abdominal organs, detecting diseases, abnormalities and malignant tumours

Alibaba has open-sourced an artificial intelligence (AI) model capable of identifying nearly 150 abdominal conditions, including cancers, from computed tomography (CT) scans.

The vision-language model, called Damo Radar, was developed by Alibaba's research arm, Damo Academy, the institute said Friday, according to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.

The model analyzes contrast-enhanced CT scans covering 18 abdominal organs and can identify a broad range of diseases and abnormalities, including malignant tumors.

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Damo Radar achieved an average area under the curve (AUC) score of 0.913 across 146 clinical findings in nearly 40,000 real-world examinations, approaching the maximum score of 1.0.

The research team described it as "the world's first expert-level generalist medical imaging model," adding that it could eventually be expanded to other types of medical imaging.

In a study involving 26 radiologists from multiple hospitals, the model outperformed 23 participants on average.

With the model's assistance, radiologists also reduced missed diagnoses by 10% and cut diagnosis time by more than 30%.