mmalabanan
Pigeons may soon replace some medical professionals after researchers discovered their remarkable ability to spot signs of breast cancer in biopsy samples and mammogram scans.
In an experiment done by researchers at the University of California at Davis, eight pigeons served as subjects of the study. Presented with microscope slides and mammogram scan images of either benign or malignant breast tissue, the birds were tasked to peck at a yellow or blue button to classify the slides. Every time a pigeon gets the right answer, it is given food as a reward.
“With training and food reinforcement, pigeons do just as well as humans,” said lead researcher Professor Richard Levenson of the University of California Davis.
The birds’ accuracy from day one of training at low magnification rose from 50% correct to nearly 85% correct at days 13 to 15.
Interestingly, pigeons were as good as radiologists at identifying microscopic calcification spots on mammograms, that can be an early sign of cancer.
Pigeons, on the other hand, exhibited difficulty in classifying suspicious masses in mammograms. Even skilled observers tend to have a tougher time in performing this task.
According to Professor Edward Wasserman from the University of Iowa, previous studies have shown that pigeons, whose brains are no bigger than the tip of an index finger, can identify letters of the alphabet, distinguish emotional expressions, identities of humans, as well as identify paintings by Monet and Picasso.
The findings of the study were published in the online journal Public Library of Science ONE.
