Chinese doctors develop AI breast-cancer screening on smartphones

BEIJING -- A team of Chinese doctors has been developing an artificial intelligence-based infrared thermography (AI-IRT) system for breast-cancer screening, enabling users to easily check their levels of cancer risk through an app by linking infrared cameras to their smartphones.

According to the research team from the Beijing-based Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), the system is composed of an infrared camera, an AI algorithm, and a big-data platform.

After linking the infrared cameras to their smartphones, users can use the cameras to capture thermal images of their breasts. These are then uploaded to a phone app and automatically processed by the AI algorithm, with the results showing different levels of cancer risk.

The research team expects the system to serve as a more convenient, accurate and cost-effective breast cancer pre-clinical screening solution for Chinese women. Currently, breast self-examination is the main pre-clinical screening method, yet most women do not perform breast self-examinations regularly or employ the correct techniques.

Breast cancer is a major female health issue in China. In 2022, China recorded 357,200 new cases of breast cancer, the second most prevalent malignancy among females in that year, and 75,000 deaths from the disease.

"Early screening and diagnosis are key to the treatment of breast cancer," said Sun Qiang, a chief breast physician at the PUMCH and a core member of the research team.

Compared with major clinical screening methods such as ultrasound examination, mammography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the AI-IRT system as a large-scale pre-clinical screening method has the advantages of being non-invasive, radiation-free, quick and more affordable. IRT is also regarded as an effective technique in screening dense breasts, which are more common among Asian women.

"It is a Chinese solution for breast cancer pre-clinical screening for Chinese females," said Zhou Yidong, director of the breast surgery department of the PUMCH.

Based on their current findings, the researchers hope to introduce the AI-IRT system to the public for use at home and in community health centers in the future, saving the trouble of making hospital appointments in advance and waiting for days to have clinical screenings.

Wang Xuefei, an attending physician for the PUMCH breast surgery department and a core member of the research team, said that although the research results require higher-quality prospective validation studies for further confirmation, it is certain that the AI-IRT system has tremendous potential application value.

According to the researchers, they have completed the technology transfer of the core hardware for the AI-IRT system.