How AI is bringing new options to mammograms, other breast cancer screenings

Artificial intelligence is transforming the health world in more ways than one, including as an additional tool in breast cancer screenings.

Physicians assisted by AI in mammography screening detected 20% more cancers, according to preliminary results from a study out earlier this year. And AI could help predict outcomes in invasive breast cancer, research from Northwestern Medicine published in the Nature Medicine journal Monday found, potentially making it possible to spare breast cancer patients unnecessary chemotherapy treatments.

For Tehillah Harris, these additional tools mean an extra set of eyes, especially as someone with a family history. She was only 32 when her mother died of breast cancer.