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How artificial intelligence brought a 2,000-year-old medical practice to the fore to diagnose diseases
A practice rooted in Chinese herbal medicine for more than two millennia found itself at the forefront of modern healthcare, thanks to artificial intelligence (AI); The reason for using the tongue as a diagnostic tool to detect various ailments.
Language-related diagnostic systems are gaining popularity worldwide. A study, published in AIP Conference Proceedings and conducted by Middle Technical University (MTU) and University of South Australia (UniSA) researchers now provides further evidence of this technology’s remarkable accuracy in disease detection.
The study team used a USB web camera and a computer to collect images of the tongue of a group of patients, focusing on 50 people diagnosed with conditions such as diabetesrenal failure and anemia. They then compared these images to 9,000 tongue images, which were included in a comprehensive database.
Utilizing advanced image processing techniques, researchers achieved a 94% diagnostic accuracy rate, compared to traditional laboratory results. The system automatically generated voice messages describing the color of the tongue as well as the detected disease, which were sent to either the patient or the designated health care provider.
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«Thousands of years ago, Chinese medicine pioneered the practice of examining the tongue, aiming to disease detectionsays Ali Al-Naji, assistant professor at MTU and UniSA. “Conventional medicine has long supported this method, proving that the color, shape and thickness of the tongue they can reveal signs of diabetes, liver problems, circulatory and digestive problems, as well as blood and heart diseases».
«Going a step further, new methods to diagnose the disease from the appearance of the tongue are now being done remotely, using artificial intelligence and a camera, even if it is a smartphone. Computational language analysis is highly accurate and could help remotely diagnose diseases in a safe, effective, easy, painless and cost-effective manner“, explains Dr. Al-Naji.
The expert adds that different diseases manifest different colors in the tongue: Patients with diabetes often have a yellow tongue, while cancer patients may have a purple tongue with a thick, greasy coating. Acute stroke patients, on the other hand, may present with a red and crooked tongue.
A separate 2022 study in Ukraine looked at tongue images of 135 COVID patients using smartphones. The results revealed that 64% of cases of mild infection had a light pink tongue, 62% of cases with moderate symptoms had a red tongue, and an impressive 99% of severe COVID infections were associated with a dark red tongue.
Previous research using tongue diagnostic systems has effectively identified conditions such as appendicitis, diabetes and thyroid disease.
«We can diagnose more than 10 diseases with 80% accuracy which cause a visible change in the color of the tongue. In our study we achieved 94% accuracy with three diseases, so there is potential to refine this research even further“, concludes Dr. Al-Naji.