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Aims
Evaluation of the add-on effect an artificial intelligence (AI) based clinical decision support system has on the performance of endoscopists with different degrees of expertise in the field of Barrett's esophagus (BE) and Barrett's esophagus-related neoplasia (BERN).
Methods
The support system is based on a multi-task deep learning model trained to solve a segmentation and several classification tasks. The training approach represents an extension of the ECMT semi-supervised learning algorithm. The complete system evaluates a decision tree between estimated motion, classification, segmentation, and temporal constraints, to decide when and how the prediction is highlighted to the observer. In our current study, ninety-six video cases of patients with BE and BERN were prospectively collected and assessed by Barrett's specialists and non-specialists. All video cases were evaluated twice – with and without AI assistance. The order of appearance, either with or without AI support, was assigned randomly. Participants were asked to detect and characterize regions of dysplasia or early neoplasia within the video sequences.
Results
Standalone sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the AI system were 92.16%, 68.89%, and 81.25%, respectively. Mean sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of expert endoscopists without AI support were 83,33%, 58,20%, and 71,48 %, respectively. Gastroenterologists without Barrett's expertise but with AI support had a comparable performance with a mean sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 76,63%, 65,35%, and 71,36%, respectively.
Conclusions
Non-Barrett's experts with AI support had a similar performance as experts in a video-based study.
Einleitung
Die Differenzierung zwischen nicht dysplastischem Barrett-Ösophagus (NDBE) und mit Barrett-Ösophagus assoziierten Neoplasien (BERN) während der endoskopischen Inspektion erfordert viel Expertise. Die frühe Diagnosestellung ist wichtig für die weitere Prognose des Barrett-Karzinoms. In Deutschland werden Patient:innen mit einem Barrett-Ösophagus (BE) in der Regel im niedergelassenen Sektor überwacht.
Ziele
Ziel ist es, den Einfluss von einem auf Künstlicher Intelligenz (KI) basierenden klinischen Entscheidungsunterstützungssystems (CDSS) auf die Performance von niedergelassenen Gastroenterolog:innen (NG) bei der Evaluation von Barrett-Ösophagus (BE) zu untersuchen.
Methodik
Es erfolgte die prospektive Sammlung von 96 unveränderten hochauflösenden Videos mit Fällen von Patient:innen mit histologisch bestätigtem NDBE und BERN. Alle eingeschlossenen Fälle enthielten mindestens zwei der folgenden Darstellungsmethoden: HD-Weißlichtendoskopie, Narrow Band Imaging oder Texture and Color Enhancement Imaging. Sechs NG von sechs unterschiedlichen Praxen wurden als Proband:innen eingeschlossen. Es erfolgte eine permutierte Block-Randomisierung der Videofälle in entweder Gruppe A oder Gruppe B. Gruppe A implizierte eine Evaluation des Falls durch Proband:innen zunächst ohne KI und anschließend mit KI als CDSS. In Gruppe B erfolgte die Evaluation in umgekehrter Reihenfolge. Anschließend erfolgte eine zufällige Wiedergabe der so entstandenen Subgruppen im Rahmen des Tests.
Ergebnis
In diesem Test konnte ein von uns entwickeltes KI-System (Barrett-Ampel) eine Sensitivität von 92,2%, eine Spezifität von 68,9% und eine Accuracy von 81,3% erreichen. Mit der Hilfe von KI verbesserte sich die Sensitivität der NG von 64,1% auf 71,2% (p<0,001) und die Accuracy von 66,3% auf 70,8% (p=0,006) signifikant. Eine signifikante Verbesserung dieser Parameter zeigte sich ebenfalls, wenn die Proband:innen die Fälle zunächst ohne KI evaluierten (Gruppe A). Wurde der Fall jedoch als Erstes mit der Hilfe von KI evaluiert (Gruppe B), blieb die Performance nahezu konstant.
Schlussfolgerung
Es konnte ein performantes KI-System zur Evaluation von BE entwickelt werden. NG verbessern sich bei der Evaluation von BE durch den Einsatz von KI.
Objective
Despite high stand-alone performance, studies demonstrate that artificial intelligence (AI)-supported endoscopic diagnostics often fall short in clinical applications due to human-AI interaction factors. This video-based trial on Barrett's esophagus aimed to investigate how examiner behavior, their levels of confidence, and system usability influence the diagnostic outcomes of AI-assisted endoscopy.
Methods
The present analysis employed data from a multicenter randomized controlled tandem video trial involving 22 endoscopists with varying degrees of expertise. Participants were tasked with evaluating a set of 96 endoscopic videos of Barrett's esophagus in two distinct rounds, with and without AI assistance. Diagnostic confidence levels were recorded, and decision changes were categorized according to the AI prediction. Additional surveys assessed user experience and system usability ratings.
Results
AI assistance significantly increased examiner confidence levels (p < 0.001) and accuracy. Withdrawing AI assistance decreased confidence (p < 0.001), but not accuracy. Experts consistently reported higher confidence than non-experts (p < 0.001), regardless of performance. Despite improved confidence, correct AI guidance was disregarded in 16% of all cases, and 9% of initially correct diagnoses were changed to incorrect ones. Overreliance on AI, algorithm aversion, and uncertainty in AI predictions were identified as key factors influencing outcomes. The System Usability Scale questionnaire scores indicated good to excellent usability, with non-experts scoring 73.5 and experts 85.6.
Conclusions
Our findings highlight the pivotal function of examiner behavior in AI-assisted endoscopy. To fully realize the benefits of AI, implementing explainable AI, improving user interfaces, and providing targeted training are essential. Addressing these factors could enhance diagnostic accuracy and confidence in clinical practice.
Aims
Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems in gastrointestinal endoscopy are narrow because they are trained to solve only one specific task. Unlike Narrow-AI, general AI systems may be able to solve multiple and unrelated tasks. We aimed to understand whether an AI system trained to detect, characterize, and segment early Barrett’s neoplasia (Barrett’s AI) is only capable of detecting this pathology or can also detect and segment other diseases like early squamous cell cancer (SCC).
Methods
120 white light (WL) and narrow-band endoscopic images (NBI) from 60 patients (1 WL and 1 NBI image per patient) were extracted from the endoscopic database of the University Hospital Augsburg. Images were annotated by three expert endoscopists with extensive experience in the diagnosis and endoscopic resection of early esophageal neoplasias. An AI system based on DeepLabV3+architecture dedicated to early Barrett’s neoplasia was tested on these images. The AI system was neither trained with SCC images nor had it seen the test images prior to evaluation. The overlap between the three expert annotations („expert-agreement“) was the ground truth for evaluating AI performance.
Results
Barrett’s AI detected early SCC with a mean intersection over reference (IoR) of 92% when at least 1 pixel of the AI prediction overlapped with the expert-agreement. When the threshold was increased to 5%, 10%, and 20% overlap with the expert-agreement, the IoR was 88%, 85% and 82%, respectively. The mean Intersection Over Union (IoU) – a metric according to segmentation quality between the AI prediction and the expert-agreement – was 0.45. The mean expert IoU as a measure of agreement between the three experts was 0.60.
Conclusions
In the context of this pilot study, the predictions of SCC by a Barrett’s dedicated AI showed some overlap to the expert-agreement. Therefore, features learned from Barrett’s cancer-related training might be helpful also for SCC prediction. Our results allow different possible explanations. On the one hand, some Barrett’s cancer features generalize toward the related task of assessing early SCC. On the other hand, the Barrett’s AI is less specific to Barrett’s cancer than a general predictor of pathological tissue. However, we expect to enhance the detection quality significantly by extending the training to SCC-specific data. The insight of this study opens the way towards a transfer learning approach for more efficient training of AI to solve tasks in other domains.
The endoscopic features associated with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) may be missed during routine endoscopy. We aimed to develop and evaluate an Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithm for detecting and quantifying the endoscopic features of EoE in white light images, supplemented by the EoE Endoscopic Reference Score (EREFS). An AI algorithm (AI-EoE) was constructed and trained to differentiate between EoE and normal esophagus using endoscopic white light images extracted from the database of the University Hospital Augsburg. In addition to binary classification, a second algorithm was trained with specific auxiliary branches for each EREFS feature (AI-EoE-EREFS). The AI algorithms were evaluated on an external data set from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (UNC), and compared with the performance of human endoscopists with varying levels of experience. The overall sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of AI-EoE were 0.93 for all measures, while the AUC was 0.986. With additional auxiliary branches for the EREFS categories, the AI algorithm (AI-EoEEREFS) performance improved to 0.96, 0.94, 0.95, and 0.992 for sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and AUC, respectively. AI-EoE and AI-EoE-EREFS performed significantly better than endoscopy beginners and senior fellows on the same set of images. An AI algorithm can be trained to detect and quantify endoscopic features of EoE with excellent performance scores. The addition of the EREFS criteria improved the performance of the AI algorithm, which performed significantly better than endoscopists with a lower or medium experience level.
In this study, we aimed to develop an artificial intelligence clinical decision support solution to mitigate operator-dependent limitations during complex endoscopic procedures such as endoscopic submucosal dissection and peroral endoscopic myotomy, for example, bleeding and perforation. A DeepLabv3-based model was trained to delineate vessels, tissue structures and instruments on endoscopic still images from such procedures. The mean cross-validated Intersection over Union and Dice Score were 63% and 76%, respectively. Applied to standardised video clips from third-space endoscopic procedures, the algorithm showed a mean vessel detection rate of 85% with a false-positive rate of 0.75/min. These performance statistics suggest a potential clinical benefit for procedure safety, time and also training.
Background
This study evaluated the effect of an artificial intelligence (AI)-based clinical decision support system on the performance and diagnostic confidence of endoscopists in their assessment of Barrett’s esophagus (BE).
Methods
96 standardized endoscopy videos were assessed by 22 endoscopists with varying degrees of BE experience from 12 centers. Assessment was randomized into two video sets: group A (review first without AI and second with AI) and group B (review first with AI and second without AI). Endoscopists were required to evaluate each video for the presence of Barrett’s esophagus-related neoplasia (BERN) and then decide on a spot for a targeted biopsy. After the second assessment, they were allowed to change their clinical decision and confidence level.
Results
AI had a stand-alone sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 92.2%, 68.9%, and 81.3%, respectively. Without AI, BE experts had an overall sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 83.3%, 58.1%, and 71.5%, respectively. With AI, BE nonexperts showed a significant improvement in sensitivity and specificity when videos were assessed a second time with AI (sensitivity 69.8% [95%CI 65.2%–74.2%] to 78.0% [95%CI 74.0%–82.0%]; specificity 67.3% [95%CI 62.5%–72.2%] to 72.7% [95%CI 68.2%–77.3%]). In addition, the diagnostic confidence of BE nonexperts improved significantly with AI.
Conclusion
BE nonexperts benefitted significantly from additional AI. BE experts and nonexperts remained significantly below the stand-alone performance of AI, suggesting that there may be other factors influencing endoscopists’ decisions to follow or discard AI advice.
Künstliche Intelligenz erhöht die Gefäßerkennung von Endoskopikern bei third space Endoskopie
(2024)
Einleitung: Künstliche Intelligenz (KI)-Algorithmen unterstützen Endoskopiker bei der Erkennung und Charakterisierung von Kolonpolypen in der klinischen Praxis und führen zu einer Erhöhung der Adenomdetektionsrate. Auch bei therapeutischen Maßnahmen wie der endoskopischen Submukosadissektion (ESD) könne relevante anatomische Strukturen durch KI mit hoher Genauigkeit erkannt und im endoskopischen Bild in Echtzeit markiert werden. Der Effekt einer solchen Applikation auf die Gefäßdetektion von Endoskopikern ist bislang nicht erforscht.
Ziele:
In dieser Studie wurde der Effekt eines KI-Algorithmus zur Echtzeit-Gefäßmarkierung bei ESD auf die Gefäßdetektionsrate von Endoskopikern untersucht.
Methodik:
59 third space Endoskopievideos wurde aus der Datenbank des Universitätsklinikums Augsburg extrahiert. Auf 5470 Einzelbildern dieser Untersuchungen wurde submukosale Blutgefäße annotiert. Zusammen mit weiteren 179681 unmarkierten Bildern wurde ein DeepLabV3+ neuronales Netzwerk mit einer semi-supervised learning Methode darin trainiert, submukosale Blutgefäße auf dem endoskopischen Bild zu erkennen und in Echtzeit einzuzeichnen. Anhand eines Videotests mit 101 Videoclips und 200 vordefinierten Blutgefäßen wurden 19 Endoskopiker mit und ohne KI Unterstützung getestet.
Ergebnis:
Der Algorithmus erkannte in dem Videotest 93.5% der Gefäße in einer Detektionszeit von im Median 0,3 Sekunden. Die Gefäßdetektionsrate von Endoskopikern erhöhte sich durch KI Unterstützung von 56,4% auf 72,4% (p<0.001). Die Gefäßdetektionszeit reduzierte sich durch KI-Unterstützung von 6,7 auf 5.2 Sekunden (p<0.001). Der Algorithmus zeigte eine Rate an falsch positiven Detektionen in 4.5% der Einzelbilder. Falsch positiv erkannte Strukturen wurde kürzer detektiert, als richtig positive (0.7 und 6.0 Sekunden, p<0.001).
Schlussfolgerung:
KI Unterstützung führte zu einer erhöhten Gefäßdetektionsrate und schnelleren Gefäßdetektionszeit von Endoskopikern. Ein möglicher klinischer Effekt auf die intraprozedurale Komplikationsrate oder Operationszeit könnte in prospektiven Studien ermittelt werden.
Background and aims
Celiac disease with its endoscopic manifestation of villous atrophy is underdiagnosed worldwide. The application of artificial intelligence (AI) for the macroscopic detection of villous atrophy at routine esophagogastroduodenoscopy may improve diagnostic performance.
Methods
A dataset of 858 endoscopic images of 182 patients with villous atrophy and 846 images from 323 patients with normal duodenal mucosa was collected and used to train a ResNet 18 deep learning model to detect villous atrophy. An external data set was used to test the algorithm, in addition to six fellows and four board certified gastroenterologists. Fellows could consult the AI algorithm’s result during the test. From their consultation distribution, a stratification of test images into “easy” and “difficult” was performed and used for classified performance measurement.
Results
External validation of the AI algorithm yielded values of 90 %, 76 %, and 84 % for sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy, respectively. Fellows scored values of 63 %, 72 % and 67 %, while the corresponding values in experts were 72 %, 69 % and 71 %, respectively. AI consultation significantly improved all trainee performance statistics. While fellows and experts showed significantly lower performance for “difficult” images, the performance of the AI algorithm was stable.
Conclusion
In this study, an AI algorithm outperformed endoscopy fellows and experts in the detection of villous atrophy on endoscopic still images. AI decision support significantly improved the performance of non-expert endoscopists. The stable performance on “difficult” images suggests a further positive add-on effect in challenging cases.
Background and study aims: While artificial intelligence (AI) shows high potential in decision support for diagnostic gastrointestinal endoscopy, its role in therapeutic endoscopy remains unclear. Third space endoscopic procedures pose the risk of intraprocedural bleeding. Therefore, we aimed to develop an AI algorithm for intraprocedural blood vessel detection. Patients and Methods: Using a test dataset with 101 standardized video clips containing 200 predefined submucosal blood vessels, 19 endoscopists were evaluated for the vessel detection rate (VDR) and time (VDT) with and without support of an AI algorithm. Test subjects were grouped according to experience in ESD. Results: With AI support, endoscopists VDR increased from 56.4% [CI 54.1–58.6] to 72.4% [CI 70.3–74.4]. Endoscopists‘ VDT dropped from 6.7sec [CI 6.2-7.1] to 5.2sec [CI 4.8-5.7]. False positive (FP) readings appeared in 4.5% of frames and were marked significantly shorter than true positives (6.0sec [CI 5.28-6.70] vs. 0.7sec [CI 0.55-0.87]). Conclusions: AI improved the vessel detection rate and time of endoscopists during third space endoscopy. While these data need to be corroborated by clinical trials, AI may prove to be an invaluable tool for the improvement of endoscopic interventions.