An interdisciplinary research team are using ground-breaking AI technologies to make the historically fraught process of endometriosis diagnosis faster, more cost-effective, and less invasive with IMAGENDO®.
Endometriosis affects hundreds of millions of people globally and nearly a million Australians. The condition, which occurs when tissues similar to the lining of the uterus grow outside the womb, can cause pelvic inflammation, headaches, fatigue, and even infertility. The debilitating pain can affect ability to work, relationships, fitness, education and mental health. And yet, despite its undeniable toll, pathways to diagnosis and treatment remain slow, expensive, and invasive. University of Adelaide researchers are working to improve endometriosis care with a new technology called IMAGENDO®.
Currently, the wait time for diagnosis averages more than six years from symptom onset. Painful symptoms are often overlooked or normalized, and the most common diagnostic tool, a keyhole surgery, is costly and intrusive.
Two University of Adelaide research institutes – the Robinson Research Institute and the Australian Institute for Machine Learning – are harnessing the emergent power of artificial intelligence (AI) to revolutionise endometriosis diagnosis. By combining ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and AI, the researchers aim to make IMAGENDO® a cost-effective, accessible, and accurate new way to diagnose the condition without surgery.
Professor Louise Hull, a gynaecologist and fertility specialist at the Robinson Research Institute leads the IMAGENDO® project. She saw an opportunity to do better for patients by using less invasive specialist scans such as transvaginal ultrasounds and gynaecological MRIs, which have the potential to detect diagnostic markers of endometriosis.
“A non-invasive imaging diagnosis means people can explore different treatment options for best care, including non-invasive options such as physiotherapy and medications,” she says.
Program manager Dr Jodie Avery predicts IMAGENDO® will lead to earlier endometriosis diagnosis and timely treatment that improves outcomes for patients.