Taipei Veterans General Hospital (TVGH) on Wednesday touted the world’s first artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform designed to assist in the diagnosis of schizophrenia, saying it has an accuracy of 91.7 percent and is capable of transcending the limits of traditional symptom-based assessments.
“The field of psychiatry has long hoped to identify objective biological markers that can help quantify the symptoms [of mental illness],” TVGH Medical AI Development Center deputy director Albert Yang (楊智傑) said.
Due to the lack of objective diagnostic tools, psychiatric evaluations have long relied primarily on clinical observations and subjective interviews, making it difficult for physicians to fully understand a patient’s condition and changes in brain function, Yang said.
Photo: CNA
With that challenge in mind, he led the team that developed BrainProbe, the world’s first AI-powered platform capable of assisting in the diagnosis of schizophrenia, a mental illness linked to neurotransmission abnormalities, and degeneration in brain structure and function.
Based on data from more than 1,500 participants recorded since 2012 — including healthy people and those with schizophrenia — BrainProbe quantified brain abnormalities related to schizophrenia using magnetic resonance imaging scans and deep learning algorithms, Yang said.
Yang cited the case of a 30-year-old who was experiencing auditory hallucinations and paranoid delusions as an example of how the platform aids in the diagnosis of schizophrenia.
“BrainProbe was able to detect signs of degeneration in his brain function and structure — particularly in deeper regions such as the insula and temporal lobe,” Yang said, adding that abnormalities associated with schizophrenia prompted further evaluation, and the man was later confirmed to have the disease.
The most important capability of BrainProbe is its ability to track changes in the brain as it ages, he said.
The platform has established a brain aging prediction index and a mechanism for monitoring pathological changes in brain structure and function, he added.
BrainProbe is still under review by the Food and Drug Administration, but people can access the platform at TVGH on a self-pay basis through a clinical trial program.
Asked about the development of the platform, Yang said his team is collaborating with medical institutions abroad to incorporate data from other populations.
“We hope this platform can be applied across different ethnic groups to enable more accurate research,” he added.
Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said Saturday that she would not be intimidated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), following reports that Chinese agents planned to ram her car during a visit to the Czech Republic last year. "I had a great visit to Prague & thank the Czech authorities for their hospitality & ensuring my safety," Hsiao said on social media platform X. "The CCP's unlawful activities will NOT intimidate me from voicing Taiwan's interests in the international community," she wrote. Hsiao visited the Czech Republic on March 18 last year as vice president-elect and met with Czech Senate leadership, including
There have been clear signs of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attempts to interfere in the nationwide recall vote on July 26 in support of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators facing recall, an unnamed government official said, warning about possible further actions. The CCP is actively involved in Taiwanese politics, and interference in the recall vote is to be expected, with multiple Chinese state media and TAO attempts to discredit the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and undermine public support of their recall movement, the official said. This interference includes a smear campaign initiated this month by a pro-Beijing Hong Kong news outlet against
A week-long exhibition on modern Tibetan history and the Dalai Lama’s global advocacy opened yesterday in Taipei, featuring quotes and artworks highlighting human rights and China’s ongoing repression of Tibetans, Hong Kongers and Uighurs. The exhibition, the first organized by the Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan (HRNTT), is titled “From the Snowy Ridges to the Ocean of Wisdom.” “It would be impossible for Tibetans inside Tibet to hold an exhibition like this — we can do it. because we live in a free and democratic country,” HRNTT secretary-general Tashi Tsering said. Tashi Tsering, a Taiwan-based Tibetan who has never
A first shipment of five tons of Taiwan tilapia was sent from Tainan to Singapore on Wednesday, following an order valued at NT$600,000 (US$20,500) placed with a company in the city. The products, including frozen whole fish and pre- cooked fish belly, were dispatched from Jiangjun Fishing Harbor, where a new aquatic processing and logistics center is under construction. At the launch, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) called the move a “breakthrough,” marking Taiwan’s expansion into the Singaporean tilapia market. Taiwan’s tilapia exports have traditionally focused on the United States, Canada, and the Middle East, Huang said, adding that the new foothold in
RSS