Can IBM’s Watson help cancer patients?

(Credit:
IBM)

Patients at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center may receive cancer diagnoses and treatment with the help of IBM’s Watson supercomputer by the end of 2013.

Watson would make diagnoses and suggest treatment approaches that take into account individual patient concerns, the Associated Press reported today.

Using its natural-language processing powers, the artificial intelligence system will study textbooks, oncology studies, and medical records if patients give permission. An advisory panel will test its assessments of increasingly complicated cancer cases.

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If the collaboration proves successful, Watson’s knowledge base could be used to help treat cancer around the world.

“The capabilities are … [Read more]

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