This conversation is part of SurfingNASH’s 2021 NAFLD Year-In-Review. Dr. Mazen Noureddin, Director of the Fatty Liver Program at Cedars Sinai, Los Angeles, joins Louise Campbell and Roger Green to discuss advances in AI in histopathology.

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Mazen Noureddin notes that while non-invasive tests are important and likely to become more so over time, drug development today will need to rely on AI to interpret and ultimately improve histology reads. One benefit he notes is the ability of AI reads to reveal differences between cirrhosis patients in terms of percentage of liver that is F4 vs. F3. In one study, AI also reduced the percent efficacy in a placebo group when compared to human readers. Mazen raises the pivotal question, “When are we going to use these AI techniques in clinical trials?” He and Louise Campbell suggest that we might have enough confidence today to analyze via AI, if only to compare results to what traditional, error-ridden approaches. He notes thats Louise suggests strongly that adopting the Ishak score might be a good way to go. Ultimately, Mazen suggests we can detect more liver features and also clarify unclear results.