Real Life AI in Polyp Detection

Recently, there have been remarkable breakthroughs in the introduction of deep learning techniques, especially convolutional neural networks (CNNs), in assisting clinical diagnosis in different medical fields. One of these artificial intelligence (AI) devices to diagnose colon polyps during colonoscopy was launched in October 2019. Its intended use is to work as an adjunct to the endoscopist during a colonoscopy with the purpose of highlighting regions with visual characteristics consistent with different types of mucosal abnormalities.

It is essential to know whether deep learning algorithms can really help endoscopists during colonoscopies. Several studies have already addressed this issue with different approaches and results. However, one common drawback of these type of Machine vs Human retrospective studies is endoscopist bias. It is usually generated because of human natural competitive spirit against machine or human relaxation because of AI-reliance. This can have an effect in the overall results.

The investigators perfomed colonoscopies with the use of a commercially available AI system to detect colonic polyps and recorded them during clinical routine. Additionally from March 2019 - May 2019, 120 colonoscopy videos were performed and captured prospectively without the use of AI.

In this study, the investigators plan to retrospectively compare those two video sets regarding the polyp detection rate, withdrawal time and polyp identification characteristics of the AI system.