Couresty of yourobserver.com
The winner of the 2012 Google science fair was announced this summer, topping very stiff competition from around the world. Brittany Wenger, of Lakewood Ranch, USA was awarded first prize for her submission, which is expected to make a big impact in breast cancer screening.
Ever since a project in elementary school which introduced her to the world of computer programming, Brittany has chosen to preoccupy herself with textbooks on the how-to’s of programming neural networks. As a result, she has developed a program which is not only able to assess a tissue sample for malignancies, but is also able to learn from previous trials and improve its efficiency at doing so. A type of artificial intelligence if you will.
Picture courtesy of www.beliefnet.com
Despite the fact that there are many accurate ways to detect cancer in a patient, the importance of this development lays in the fact that it can be used to analyze tissue samples from a process called fine-needle aspiration, which is one of the least invasive procedures for detecting breast cancer. Previously, the questionable accuracy of fine-needle aspiration prevented it from being a truly reliable means of screening, but now with this neural network available, it should become a confident alternative to more invasive procedures.
The slideshow presentation for her submission can be viewed here.
I recommend watching this video to hear her own explanation of the project:
She was awarded $50,000 in scholarship money, an internship with a fair sponsor and a 10-day trip to the Galapagos Islands for her submission, which can only be described as an amazing accomplishment for a 17-year-old girl. Her plans to expand this program to work with other forms of cancer and diagnoses, reducing the requirement for invasive procedures, is just one more thing we can all be thankful for as we slowly move toward old age.
Cameron Tough
17-year-old girl builds artificial ‘brain’ to detect breast cancer – FutureTech on NBCNews.com Retrieved 10/13/2012, 2012, from http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/17-year-old-girl-builds-artificial-brain-detect-breast-cancer-908308
