2021_03_17 NUS researchers harness AI to identify cancer cells by their acidity_1 The novel technique of using AI to quickly analyse cells for cancer diagnosis was developed by an NUS research team led by Professor Lim Chwee Teck (left). With him are two team members – Dr Jokhun Doorgesh Sharma (centre) and Dr Yuri Belotti (right). Healthy and cancer cells can look similar under a microscope. One way of differentiating them is by examining the level of acidity, or pH level, inside the cells. Tapping on this distinguishing characteristic, a research team from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has developed a technique that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to determine whether a single cell is healthy or cancerous by analysing its pH. Each cancer test can be completed in under 35 minutes, and single cells can be classified with an accuracy rate of more than 95 per cent.