Miyazaki, Japan, September 26, 2019 — Miyazaki University and NTT DATA announced that they used artificial-intelligence (AI) technology developed by NTT DATA to detect abnormalities in kidneys during a joint research project conducted at Miyazaki University Hospital in August. The project confirmed that the AI technology achieves high detection accuracy, particularly in the case of cancer, 88.85%. The technology also achieved 82.35% sensitivity (cancer indicated in those with the disease) and 95.25% specificity (no cancer indicated in those free of the disease).

Kidney data was collected from 700 patients, of whom 250 had cancer, 200 had other diseases and 250 were generally healthy.

Based on the successful results, Miyazaki University and NTT DATA plan to verify the effectiveness of using the AI technology to reduce the diagnostic workloads of radiologists by the end of 2020.

Miyazaki University Hospital has been working to reduce the workload of its radiologists. According to Dr. Toshinori Hirai, professor and chairman of the radiology department in the universit's Faculty of Medicine. "Our radiologists have requested help in double checking images and confirming the presence of dangerous diseases, particularly cancer, to make sure nothing is overlooked. Actually, this is a common problem at most hospitals due to the low ratio of radiologists per patient in Japan."

In response, NTT DATA has been working on a solution to provide radiologists with a second pair of eyes to double-check CT scans.

"Our AI uses a leading-edge diagnostic-support algorithm to detect all kinds of lesions and diseases in organs, regardless of the brand of scanner or the settings, such as contrast," said Tsuyoshi Kitani, an executive vice president at NTT DATA. "We are working to make this the first truly globally applicable medical AI engine by conducting tests using data from multiple countries. We aim to make our AI technology readily applicable in any hospital in the world."

Sample screen image of cancer detection

NTT DATA and Miyazaki University Hospital will now move on to the next level of research involving NTT DATA's AI technology. In this new phase, the algorithm, which currently categorizes organs as normal or abnormal, will be expanded to also categorize abnormalities by type of disease or lesion, which would help to further reduce the time required for diagnoses by doctors.

About NTT DATA

NTT DATA is a leading IT services provider and global innovation partner headquartered in Tokyo, with business operations in over 50 countries. Our emphasis is on long-term commitment, combining global reach with local intimacy to provide premier professional services varying from consulting and systems development to outsourcing. For more information, visit www.nttdata.com.

For further information from media

Mayuko Harada, Satoshi Ito
Weber Shandwick (for NTT DATA Corporation)
nttdata@webershandwick.com

News Releases.

The services, prices of products and services, specifications, telephone numbers, etc. for inquiries and other information included in news releases are the data available on the day of the release. This information may be changed at any time without notice. In certain circumstances, due to various risks or unexpected occurrences, actual results may also be different from the plans or projections in news releases.