40-year-old mom's cancer journey made easier thanks to AI
Brooke Davis, a 40-year-old mom from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, went in for a routine mammogram a few years ago and discovered she had breast cancer.
The diagnosis is jarring for any woman, especially at the age of 40, and Davis was already living with multiple sclerosis, or MS, a chronic disease of the central nervous system that can cause problems with vision, balance and muscle control.
With her breast cancer diagnosis, Davis said she braced herself for a complicated medical journey that would include a mastectomy.
"My mom had just had one two years prior," Davis told ABC News. "I wasn't sure if I was going to be a candidate for reconstructive [surgery], and so being younger, that was really my biggest worry."
After hearing Davis' concerns and past struggles with MS, her doctor, Dr. Vincent Reid, chairman of surgery and medical center director at Mercy Cedar Rapids' Hall-Perrine Cancer Center, said preserving Davis' native breast tissue was a priority.
Reid had recently started using TumorSight Viz, an FDA-cleared artificial-intelligence tool developed by SimBioSys that turns a standard breast MRI into a 3D model that maps the tumor's exact size and position. The software's virtual visualization helps surgeons plan their approach, and in some cases, avoid mastectomies altogether.
Given the complexity of Davis' case, Reid said he turned to the technology in search of an alternative path forward.
"This gives you that ultimate surgical planning platform that allows you to kind of answer those questions that you are speculating about," Reid told ABC News.
The system uses NVIDIA's Graphics Processing Units, or GPUs, allowing it to process complicated MRI data in minutes instead of hours. Kimberly Powell, NVIDIA's vice president of health care, told ABC News that this use of AI in medical imaging is a natural marriage, and with recent advancements in AI capabilities, it has become more useful and more accurate.
"It's becoming very mainstream that artificial intelligence is looking at and reading your medical images and providing insights to your radiologists and your doctors about what's going on with you," Powell said.
The TumorSight Viz 3D model of Davis' MRI confirmed it would be possible to perform a lumpectomy, a procedure that removes the cancerous tissue while preserving as much of the breast as possible. The model also became a roadmap, enabling Reid to plan his surgical approach with even more accuracy.
For Davis, the technology was a blessing, enabling her to focus on her family and health, without the constant physical reminder of her cancer.
"I'm coming out on the other side without any of that disfigurement that's typically associated with breast cancer," Davis said. "When I look in the mirror, I am just completely normal me."
Davis' story is one example of how AI is reshaping medicine, giving doctors more precision and patients more options.
"These are extraordinary innovations and platforms that are empowering doctors to become super doctors and get back into the medical practice of caring for one patient at a time on a very personal level," Powell said. "And they are just loving this ability to use technology to enhance their capability to deliver to patients."
For Reid, who always wants to minimize the physical impact for his patients, the partnership is personal.
"I think AI will extend my capabilities as a surgeon," he said. "I think it will allow me to do more things for patients. I am not that concerned about being replaced by AI. I embrace AI."
Today, Davis has finished radiation and is officially in recovery. She said she is grateful not only for her outcome, but for what these advancements mean for other women, including her two daughters.
"It gives a lot of hope to a lot of people," Davis said.
