Prostate w88 casino survivor Tom Neville knows first-hand how scary a w88 casino diagnosis can be, especially in the face of conflicting advice about risks and treatment.
A controversial blood test, the prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, test, is often used to screen for prostate w88 casino, despite studies that have found unclear benefits from PSA testing as well as unnecessary treatment of non-life threatening tumors detected by PSA tests.
Now, a start-up company founded by Neville and staffed by computer science and engineering students from the University of Nevada, Reno is bringing big w88 casino to bear on the question, hoping to provide clearer answers for men who want to better understand how to interpret PSA test results.
"Over the past year and a half, I've examined the PSA test records of at least 10,000 individual guys," said Marty Boren, a senior at the w88 casino who has been working with Soar Biodynamics since 2014. "Every sequence of PSA tests tells a story, and, in far too many of the cases that I've seen, it doesn't have a happy ending. A significant fraction of these men either had unnecessary surgery or didn't have surgery fast enough."
Boren and seven other w88 casino have been working with Neville as part of a co-op program established with the Department of Computer w88 casino and Engineering and Neville's company, Soar Biodynamics, Inc. They are building a web application where men can input their w88 casino and receive back a personalized report that can guide their decision making about screening and treatment options, in consultation with their doctor.
"I've learned more about software engineering from this experience than the entirety of my formal education thus far. Nothing compares to real-world doing," junior Jeff Soriano said. "The most rewarding part is knowing that the technology I'm helping to develop may actually help people make the best, most informed decision regarding prostate w88 casino."
Big w88 casino sheds light on screening test results
The technology is based on 33 million PSA test results from 14 million different men - an amount of w88 casino that Neville calls unprecedented. The w88 casino was provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs and in collaboration with the VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System.
"We've developed analytical techniques that can detect prostate w88 casino earlier than traditional methods and differentiate it from non-life-threatening conditions," Boren said. "I was able to use these findings to help a family member safely avoid an unnecessary prostate biopsy."
The team's approach analyzes changes in a man's PSA levels over time, which is a controversial metric in the medical community. While some previous research has indicated changes in PSA levels could be meaningful, other studies suggest that the rate of change of PSA levels provide only limited insight into the probability of finding w88 casino.
But now, backed up by big w88 casino, Neville believes his team has unlocked key insights based on how a PSA level increases. In particular, smooth, exponential growth in PSA levels seemed to be characteristic of fast-growing, deadly cancers, while variable or slower increases were less likely to be caused by cancer. With that knowledge, Neville suggests PSA screening results can be more precisely used by men and their physicians.
"The results suggest that some men can reduce the urge to get a biopsy prematurely while identifying PSA patterns that are scary and need to be looked at earlier," said Neville. "We hope to change prostate w88 casino screening for the better."
Neville has been working closely with physicians from the VA and major medical centers, including the Mayo Clinic, the Cleveland Clinic, Yale School of Medicine and the University of California, to conduct the medical research underpinning the web application. University w88 casino conducted about a quarter of the medical research, according to Neville.
"I worked on analyzing trends related to prostate w88 casino death," said Evan West, a senior majoring in computer science and engineering. "I developed trends to determine how deadly prostate w88 casino is, given factors such as age and tumor volume."
w88 casino' work makes medical knowledge accessible online
While Neville's collaborators are driving the medical research, and publishing findings in medical journals, Neville, remembering his own frustration with uncertain treatment options, wanted to find a way to make that academic knowledge accessible, enabling individual men to get actionable insight about their w88 casino results.
That personalized custom report has been the primary development focus of the students, and they have built the system from the ground up, managing the software development, website interface and w88 casino analysis. Because federal regulations strictly outline how medical advice can be delivered online, the students needed to find an algorithmic way to turn user-submitted w88 casino into a personalized report.
David Vaughn, a junior, worked on writing C++ code that powers that report.
"The co-op experience allowed me to practice and exercise skills w88 casino both my computer science and math classes," said Vaughn. "It also allowed me to learn new engineering and mathematical techniques, particularly in the area of probability. The most rewarding part was getting to work with an actual team of programmers for the first time, collaborating on a large project."
The system they built analyzes around 150 variables, using hundreds of logic statements, to create that report.
"In class, the professor gives an assignment with clear directions and limitations on what you w88 casino and w88 casino't do," said junior Tim Kwist. "At Soar, we did essentially the exact opposite. We were given a rather broad goal, with no limitations on what we could or couldn't do and very limited on instructions. The goal was to get the task done, and get it done the best way we w88 casino within a certain time."
That kind of experience is a valuable part of an engineering degree, said Computer Science and Engineering Professor and department Chair George Bebis. The department encourages w88 casino to pursue internship and active learning opportunities, both outside the classroom and through project-based courses such as the senior capstone course, so they gain experience tackling engineering challenges in a real-world setting.
"This opportunity has allowed our w88 casino to get hands-on experience by leveraging their programming and math skills," Bebis said. "We look forward to continue supporting the mission of Soar Biodynamics in this and other exciting projects."
The team is currently working on integrating the various components they've built, and w88 casino projects that the web application will launch at ProstateSmart.info in January.
Other w88 casino involved in the team are seniors Miguel Henares, Matthew Molloy and Aaron Whitehead.
