AI model can differentiate pneumonia and pulmonary edema

In an April 19 session on chest imaging, Dr. Melina Hosseiny of the University of California, San Diego described first how her group previously developed two single-task convolutional neural network (CNN) algorithms — one that detects pneumonia and another that estimates serum levels of NT-proBNP, a protein released in the blood due to pulmonary edema.

The algorithms were promising in clinical tests, but were beset with false-positive findings, as these conditions often overlap, she said.

“We were thinking maybe we need a new strategy to combine these models in a multi-task CNN that…