Photo Credit: Pikovit44
The following is a summary of “Low-cost and label-free blue light cystoscopy through digital staining of white light cystoscopy videos,” published in the December 2024 issue of Urology by Chang et al.
Bladder cancer has the highest treatment cost due to its high recurrence and need for frequent surveillance with White light cystoscopy (WLC), offering limited sensitivity. While Blue light cystoscopy (BLC) improves detection by 43%, its cost and dye limitations hinder accessibility.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to evaluate digital staining as a low-cost alternative to BLC. The method improved bladder cancer detection sensitivity without fluorescent dye’s added costs or limitations.
They developed a digital staining method to transform WLC images into BLC-like images using standard clinical equipment. The algorithm was trained on 100 paired WLC and BLC images, achieving enhanced sensitivity without added equipment costs.
The results showed a staining accuracy of 80.58% with excellent qualitative and quantitative agreement between digitally stained WLC (dsWLC) and ground truth BLC images, including color consistency.
Investigators demonstrated that dsWLC provided affordable fluorescent contrast, improving bladder cancer detection and accessibility. They concluded it as a cost-effective solution with the potential to democratize enhanced healthcare across medical fields.
Source: nature.com/articles/s43856-024-00705-6
