CHICAGO/ROCHESTER – In hospitals and research labs, scientists are creating smart new tools that are helping doctors in amazing ways. Two new breakthroughs show how computers are learning to see diseases like lung cancer and dementia with incredible accuracy, promising to make healthcare faster and more precise for everyone.
In past when a patient has/had lung cancer, one of the first and most important steps before treatment is for doctors to draw a precise map of the tumor. This process, known as outlining or "segmenting," is slow and tricky. Doctors have to carefully trace the edges of the cancer on a CT scan, but because we all breathe, lung tumors are constantly moving, making it a difficult target. Now, a new AI tool from Northwestern Medicine, nicknamed "iSeg," is changing all of that, it was introduced on 30th June 2025.
iSeg uses a special 3D technology to watch how the tumor moves when a person breathes and can draw the outline automatically in just a few minutes—a job that can take a human expert over half an hour.
What’s truly exciting is that iSeg is not just faster, it's also incredibly accurate. In recent tests, it even found cancerous spots that doctors had missed. Finding these hidden areas is critical for successful treatment. By doing this tedious work automatically, iSeg frees up doctors' time and helps ensure that every patient gets the most accurate treatment plan possible, right from the start.
but earlier on June 27, 2025, doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, shared big news. They published a study in the journal Neurology about a new AI tool called StateViewer. This tool can find out which type of dementia a person has by looking at just one brain scan. It works with 88% accuracy.
Telling the difference between types of dementia is usually very hard, even for experts. StateViewer was trained using more than 3,600 special brain scans called FDG-PET scans. These scans show how the brain uses energy. By comparing a new scan to the ones it already knows, the AI can spot patterns that match different types of dementia. Then, it shows doctors a clear, color-coded map of the brain to help explain what it found.
In tests, doctors using StateViewer were up to three times more accurate. They also read the scans nearly twice as fast. Dr. David Jones, the lead doctor behind the project, said, “Every patient’s brain is different. StateViewer helps us understand them better, find problems earlier, and give the right treatment.”
This news, along with another recent AI medical tool from Chicago, shows a big change in healthcare. AI is now being used not just in research, but also in real hospitals to help doctors and bring hope to patients and families.
