Researchers at Riken and the National Cancer Centre in Japan have succeeded in using artificial intelligence (AI) to identify early-stage stomach cancer with high accuracy.

According to the researchers, it took AI only 0.004 second to judge whether an endoscopic image showed stomach cancer in the early stages or normal stomach tissue. AI correctly detected cancer in 80 percent of cancer images, while the accuracy rate was 95 percent in correctly judging normal tissue.

The research team at the institutes prepared 100 endoscopic images of early-stage stomach cancer and 100 images of normal stomach tissue for testing how AI spots cancer, through a method known as deep learning.

The researchers aim to put AI into practical use as a device supporting doctors in making diagnoses.