NEWS BRIEFS
Reno, NEV. — William Reeves, president of Lifeline BioTechnologies Inc., a company which has developed an early breast cancer detection system known as First Warning, today announced that construction has begun of its third neural network to further augment its proprietary analytical computer system called Chrononet.
Unlike most computer programs that require program designers to establish values, which will be considered positive, neural networks are self-learning; they are not pre-programmed.
The neural network will glean all pertinent data from each pathologically proven breast cancer case used in its training series. This data allows the network to identify images and patterns related to actual cancer cases. This new screening test for breast cancer is known as CAPP (Computer Assisted Physiological Profile).
Reeves indicated the company’s computer programmers have been anxiously awaiting the new data, which is being generated in Argentina where the company is presently conducting its final phase of clinical trials.
Jim Holmes, CEO of Lifeline BioTechnologies, stated, “The beauty of neural networks is their self-learning capability, coupled with their ability to instantly `look’ at the data and differentiate patterns and images, which are not readily evident to the human observer. This self-learning ability allows them to select and store information about each new cancer that is `viewed’ and added to the system, thus making the system more and more powerful as time goes on.”
Eighteen hundred women are being tested with CAPP in eleven sites in Argentina. Lifeline expects to continue testing in the U.S. in the near future. The new data from these clinical trials will enable the CAPP system to yield even more accurate results in profiling various breast pathologies, according to Holmes. The broader and more inclusive the information which is used in training these neural nets, the more precisely the system will perform in detecting breast cancer.
Reeves and Holmes both believe that eventually, and within a relatively short period of time, Lifeline will possess the largest database in the world containing actual observations of breast cancer physiology. They predict that CAPP will take its place as a standard for the detecting high-risk breast cancer cases, as the PAP smear did for cervical cancer, with comparable results in saving lives. Completion of the clinical trials and FDA clearance is anticipated next year.
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