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littlemissmartypants

(22,418 posts)
Fri Nov 9, 2018, 12:39 PM Nov 2018

13-year-old scientist invented a safer way to treat pancreatic cancer

This 13-year-old scientist invented a safer way to treat pancreatic cancer, and he hasn't even started high school yet

David Anderson and Jessica Orwig Nov. 7, 2018, 5:49 PM

Pancreatic cancer survival rates are extremely low — around 9% for five years and around 1% for 10 years — and haven't improved significantly in the past 40 years.
But 13-year-old Rishab Jain is determined to change these statistics with his AI-based tool, PCDLS Net, that improves pancreas tracking during radiotherapy.
Jain won the 2018 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge, before he's even started high school.
Watch the video above to see how Jain combined his passions for medicine and engineering to create a safer way to treat pancreatic cancer.

Following is a transcript of the video.

Rishab Jain: It all started in the summer of 2017 when I went to visit my brother in Boston, and there I learned about some research that was happening, and the surprisingly low statistics about pancreatic cancer, like its survival rate. My name is Rishab Jain. I'm in 8th grade, 13 years old, from Portland, Oregon, and I created an artificial intelligence-based tool called PCDLS Net to improve pancreas tracking during a treatment called radiotherapy for pancreatic cancer.

The five-year survival rate of pancreatic cancer is around 9%, and the 10-year survival rate is around 1%, which is extremely low, and these survival rates have not improved significantly in the past 40 years, so currently, pancreatic cancer is detected in a late stage, and by then, doctors try to use radiotherapy to help treat it, but most of the time, it's not effective enough, so I got inspired to do some research on this because I'm a big programmer, and I like artificial intelligence, so I wondered if I could combine my knowledge in the two areas to help solve the problem, and I created an artificial intelligence-based tool called PCDLS Net to improve pancreas tracking during a treatment called radiotherapy for pancreatic cancer.

I contacted over 253 doctors, and got around 30 replies from leading experts from institutions at cancer centers and around the world. So as you can see in the pancreas right here, there's other organs such as the stomach and liver that may cover the area, and also, it's right below the lungs causing it to move during some of the treatments. It's also very hard to reach in. It's right in the center of the abdomen next to the spinal cord, so for surgery, biopsies, other things like that, it may be hard to find where the pancreas is. It's sometimes detailed as a mushy or angry organ because of its position in the body.

This right here is a real patient's CT scan, and as you can see throughout its transforming, it's very hard for the human eye to detect where the pancreas is, and this is especially a problem in real time when radiologists and oncologists have to find the pancreas and apply radiation treatment. So over here on the left side, my tool can be run to find where exactly the pancreas is in one of these CT or MRI slices and output this result instantaneously. So currently, doctors have to apply sometimes a seven-millimeter overlay around the pancreas of radiation, and this can affect millions of healthy cells, so my tool is able to reduce that area to around four millimeters, so that saves millions of healthy cells and can improve patient quality of care.

Snip...
Video and complete transcript at the link.

https://www.businessinsider.com/cancer-13-year-old-teen-invented-treatment-award-pancreatic-2018-10

♡ lmsp

5 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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13-year-old scientist invented a safer way to treat pancreatic cancer (Original Post) littlemissmartypants Nov 2018 OP
13-year-old Rishab Jain Botany Nov 2018 #1
Post removed Post removed Mar 2021 #5
How is it possible a "mere child" could achieve this much? Is there a limit anywhere for him? Judi Lynn Nov 2018 #2
He's pretty remarkable. You're welcome, Judi Lynn. littlemissmartypants Nov 2018 #3
Nerd! (I mean that with the utmost respect) Victor_c3 Nov 2018 #4

Response to Botany (Reply #1)

Judi Lynn

(160,218 posts)
2. How is it possible a "mere child" could achieve this much? Is there a limit anywhere for him?
Sat Nov 10, 2018, 01:32 AM
Nov 2018






He just might be an "alien" posing as a human! Or, maybe he is a reincarnated very old soul who's been scientists before! He doesn't seem possible for someone who is 13 years old.

He seems to be welcoming the chance to advance healing by leaps and bounds.

Thank you, littlemissmartypants.

littlemissmartypants

(22,418 posts)
3. He's pretty remarkable. You're welcome, Judi Lynn.
Sat Nov 10, 2018, 02:24 PM
Nov 2018

Thank you for all of your contributions to DU. I really enjoy reading your posts.

♡ lmsp

Victor_c3

(3,557 posts)
4. Nerd! (I mean that with the utmost respect)
Sat Nov 10, 2018, 07:22 PM
Nov 2018

I have a degree in chemistry and I used to work as a chemist for the federal government for a number of years. I’m full-nerd myself.

I’m impressed (and a little jealous!)

When I was a kid, my parents used to tell me not to make fun of nerds because one day you’re going to work for one! Well, they were right (and I’m a pretty nerdy guy myself).

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