AI Model Can Help Identify Ulcerative Colitis Remission

HealthDay News — An artificial intelligence (AI) model can distinguish histological remission from activity in biopsies of ulcerative colitis (UC) and can predict flare-ups, according to a study published online March 3 in Gastroenterology.

Marietta Iacucci, M.D., Ph.D., from University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, and colleagues developed and validated an AI computer aided diagnosis system to evaluate UC biopsies and predict prognosis. The system was trained to distinguish remission from activity on a subset of 118 digitized biopsies, calibrated on 42 and tested on 375.

Researchers reported that the system distinguished histological activity/remission with sensitivity and specificity, respectively, of 89 and 85% (PICaSSO Histologic Remission Index [PHRI]), 94 and 76% (Robarts’), and 89 and 79% (Nancy Histological Index). For the Ulcerative Colitis Endoscopic Index of Severity and PHRI, the model predicted the corresponding endoscopic remission/activity with 79 and 82% accuracy. For pathologist-assessed PHRI and AI-assessed PHRI, the risks for disease flare-up between histological activity/remission groups were hazard ratios of 3.56 and 4.64, respectively. The external validation cohort confirmed histology and outcome prediction.

“Ulcerative colitis is a complex condition to predict, and developing machine learning-derived systems to make this diagnostic job quicker and more accurate could be a game changer,” Iacucci said in a statement.

One author disclosed financial ties to the medical device industry.

Abstract/Full Text