Ethical issues in computational pathology.

Journal: Journal of medical ethics
PMID: 33658334

Abstract

This paper explores ethical issues raised by whole slide image-based computational pathology. After briefly giving examples drawn from some recent literature of advances in this field, we consider some ethical problems it might be thought to pose. These arise from (1) the tension between artificial intelligence (AI) research-with its hunger for more and more data-and the default preference in data ethics and data protection law for the minimisation of personal data collection and processing; (2) the fact that computational pathology lends itself to kinds of data fusion that go against data ethics norms and some norms of biobanking; (3) the fact that AI methods are esoteric and produce results that are sometimes unexplainable (the so-called 'black box'problem) and (4) the fact that computational pathology is particularly dependent on scanning technology manufacturers with interests of their own in profit-making from data collection. We shall suggest that most of these issues are resolvable.

Authors

  • Tom Sorell
    Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick, Coventry, West Midlands, UK t.sorell@warwick.ac.uk.
  • Nasir Rajpoot
    Department of Computer Science, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
  • Clare Verrill
    Department of Cellular Pathology, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headley Way, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK; Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headley Way, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK; NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headley Way, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK. Electronic address: Clare.Verrill@ouh.nhs.uk.

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