LYNA was even more effective when serving as a companion -- pathologists performing simulated diagnoses found that the deep learning tech made their work easier. It not only reduced the rate of missed micro-metastases by a "factor of two," it cut the inspection time in half to a single minute.

This immediate approach would only have so much effectiveness in the field, since it would be looking for late-stage breast cancer where there's no known solution. It also has yet to be used in real-life clinical situations. However, the scientists note that metastasis is a common factor in most forms of cancer. It wouldn't take much to adapt the system to look for other tumors. If and when it's ready for practical use, though, it could both lead to extremely reliable diagnoses and free doctors to focus more of their time on caring for their patients.