ABSTRACT
Detection and diagnosis of colon polyps are key to preventing colorectal cancer. Recent evidence suggests that AI-based computer-aided detection (CADe) and computer-aided diagnosis (CADx) systems can enhance endoscopists' performance and boost colonoscopy effectiveness. However, most available public datasets primarily consist of still images or video clips, often at a down-sampled resolution, and do not accurately represent real-world colonoscopy procedures. We introduce the REAL-Colon (Real-world multi-center Endoscopy Annotated video Library) dataset: a compilation of 2.7 M native video frames from sixty full-resolution, real-world colonoscopy recordings across multiple centers. The dataset contains 350k bounding-box annotations, each created under the supervision of expert gastroenterologists. Comprehensive patient clinical data, colonoscopy acquisition information, and polyp histopathological information are also included in each video. With its unprecedented size, quality, and heterogeneity, the REAL-Colon dataset is a unique resource for researchers and developers aiming to advance AI research in colonoscopy. Its openness and transparency facilitate rigorous and reproducible research, fostering the development and benchmarking of more accurate and reliable colonoscopy-related algorithms and models.
Subject(s)
Colonic Polyps , Colonoscopy , Colonoscopy/methods , Humans , Colonic Polyps/diagnosis , Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted , Artificial Intelligence , Video Recording , Colorectal Neoplasms/diagnosisABSTRACT
Accurate in-vivo optical characterization of colorectal polyps is key to select the optimal treatment regimen during colonoscopy. However, reported accuracies vary widely among endoscopists. We developed a novel intelligent medical device able to seamlessly operate in real-time using conventional white light (WL) endoscopy video stream without virtual chromoendoscopy (blue light, BL). In this work, we evaluated the standalone performance of this computer-aided diagnosis device (CADx) on a prospectively acquired dataset of unaltered colonoscopy videos. An international group of endoscopists performed optical characterization of each polyp acquired in a prospective study, blinded to both histology and CADx result, by means of an online platform enabling careful video assessment. Colorectal polyps were categorized by reviewers, subdivided into 10 experts and 11 non-experts endoscopists, and by the CADx as either "adenoma" or "non-adenoma". A total of 513 polyps from 165 patients were assessed. CADx accuracy in WL was found comparable to the accuracy of expert endoscopists (CADxWL/Exp; OR 1.211 [0.766-1.915]) using histopathology as the reference standard. Moreover, CADx accuracy in WL was found superior to the accuracy of non-expert endoscopists (CADxWL/NonExp; OR 1.875 [1.191-2.953]), and CADx accuracy in BL was found comparable to it (CADxBL/CADxWL; OR 0.886 [0.612-1.282]). The proposed intelligent device shows the potential to support non-expert endoscopists in systematically reaching the performances of expert endoscopists in optical characterization.
