REDUCING FALSE NEGATIVES IN CLINICAL-PRACTICE - THE ROLE OF NEURAL-NETWORK TECHNOLOGY

Authors
Citation
Lj. Mango, REDUCING FALSE NEGATIVES IN CLINICAL-PRACTICE - THE ROLE OF NEURAL-NETWORK TECHNOLOGY, American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 175(4), 1996, pp. 1114-1119
Citations number
31
Categorie Soggetti
Obsetric & Gynecology
ISSN journal
00029378
Volume
175
Issue
4
Year of publication
1996
Part
2
Pages
1114 - 1119
Database
ISI
SICI code
0002-9378(1996)175:4<1114:RFNIC->2.0.ZU;2-V
Abstract
The fact that some cervical smears result in false-negative findings i s an unavoidable and unpredictable consequence of the conventional (ma nual microscopic) method of screening. Errors in the detection and int erpretation of abnormality are cited as leading causes of false-negati ve cytology findings; these are random errors that are not known to co rrelate with any patient risk factor, which makes the false-negative f indings a ''silent'' threat that is difficult to prevent. Described by many as a labor-intensive procedure, the microscopic evaluation of a cervical smear involves a detailed search among hundreds of thousands of cells on each smear for a possible few that may indicate abnormalit y. Investigations into causes of false-negative findings preceding the discovery of high-grade lesions found that many smears had very few d iagnostic cells that were often very small in size. These small cells were initially overlooked or misinterpreted and repeatedly missed on r escreening. PAPNET testing is designed to supplement conventional scre ening by detecting abnormal cells that initially may have been missed by microscopic examination. This interactive system uses neural networ ks, a type of artificial intelligence well suited for pattern recognit ion, to automate the arduous search for abnormality. The instrument fo cuses the review of suspicious cells by a trained cytologist. clinical studies indicate that PAPNET testing is sensitive to abnormality typi cally missed by conventional screening and that its use as a supplemen tal test improves the accuracy of screening.