– The results confirm that computerized tongue analysis is a safe, effective, user-friendly and affordable method of checking for diseases, which supports the use of modern methods for a centuries-old practice, says Professor Javaan Chahl in a message from the University of South Australia (UniSA ) in an article reproduced in Science Daily.
He has been a co-author on the study that was recently published in Technologies journal.
It is well known that the oral cavity can reveal a number of diseases and say a lot about the condition of the body, everything from imbalances in the system to infections and deficiencies. It includes ulcers and changes to the color and shape of the tongue.
Chahl envisions that it will be possible to use the smartphone to take pictures of the tongue and get an assessment of its health.
Recognizing conditions
The imaging tool the researchers have developed can classify the color of the tongue and distinguish between healthy and diseased individuals with remarkable precision. In addition, it has the ability to check for several disease states, including diabetes, covid-19, anemia and asthma and whether a stroke is in progress. The computer can also recognize signs of a number of problems related to the intestinal system, blood circulation, liver and gall bladder.
Together with researchers from the Iraqi Middle Technical University (MTU), the Australian researchers have carried out several experiments with six different machine learning algorithms. They used 5,260 images of tongues to train and test the technology to record the color of the tongue, adjust it for lighting conditions in the image and assess the extent to which the color had tones of red, yellow, green, blue, white, gray or pink.
Two hospitals submitted 60 tongue images from patients with various health conditions. Using the algorithms, which arrive at answers in various ways, artificial intelligence (AI) made a diagnosis and was right in almost all cases. The best algorithm had an accuracy of 98.71 percent, the worst 91.43 percent.
The researchers believe this shows how AI is the key to many advances in medicine, such as the value of making a diagnosis as early as possible.
Ancient knowledge
Lead author and associate professor Ali Al-Naji says KI is continuing what has been practice for 2,000 years. For example, checking the tongue for signs of disease is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. This applies not only to colour, but also shape and thickness, and any sores on the tongue or in the oral cavity.
Professor Pål Barkvoll at the Department of Oral Surgery and Oral Medicine at the University of Oslo (UiO) finds the article interesting, and reminds that AI has already been tested and partly used for both diagnosis and forecasting of how a condition or disease will develop . For example, AI can detect small fractures in various parts of the skeleton more easily than the naked eye when analyzing X-ray images. However, this method has been developed with a massive image base to ensure more precise answers.
– These are exciting times. As for this article, it may say something about the future, but it is too early to draw any firm conclusions. Among other things, far more than 60 images are needed to test the method, says Barkvoll to NTB.
– We think that AI can generally be a good aid to carry out diagnostics, but it can never replace the clinician. To know whether changes in the oral cavity are dangerous or normal, they must be seen in connection with the rest of the patient, he says.
Go to the dentist
Indeed, it has been discussed about dentists in Norway should really change their title to “mouth doctor”, since it better describes what they are responsible for. However, dentist is such a well-established title in the population that it should not be changed, was the conclusion.
Dentist Maren B. Solhaug is continuing her education at the Faculty of Dentistry at (UiO) to become a dental pathologist. In her doctorate from UiO, she has researched the immune system and its importance in healthy and diseased oral mucosa.
She has the same impression of the new study: AI can have great potential in the diagnosis of diseases, including oral ones, but for now more research is needed before such a method can possibly be used as a diagnostic tool in the clinic.
– So for the time being, the best advice is to go to the dentist/dentist regularly. They should not only examine the teeth thoroughly, but also the oral mucosa, she says.
#Research #analysis #tongue #images #ill
2024-08-19 16:09:03
