Israeli artificial intelligence (AI) company Ibex Medical Analytics have partnered up with US diagnostic testing services firm Alverno Laboratories to deploy Ibex's Galen platform to help diagnose cancer patients.
The AI solution utilizes Strong AI and machine learning to help pathologists improve the quality and speed of their cancer diagnoses, and boost productivity. It has already been granted Breakthrough Device Designation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is CE marked in Europe for detection of breast and prostate cancer.
“Adopting Ibex’s artificial intelligence solutions and embedding them into our diagnostic pathway will help pathologists, whose numbers are decreasing nationwide leading to an increased workload, focus on more complicated cancer diagnoses that need a trained eye,” said Alverno CEO Sam Terese said in a statement.
“AI is an ideal ‘digital assistant’ supporting pathologists diagnosing routine cases, and this AI deployment is part of our continued journey to find the most innovative products that make our patients healthier and enhance how our medical professionals work.”
“We are thrilled to team up with Alverno and enable their pathologists to use state-of-the-art AI solutions to accurately detect cancer and improve quality and efficiency of diagnosis,” said Joel Duckworth, chief revenue officer for the Americas at Ibex.
“With this rollout, Alverno is setting a new standard in cancer care quality, further proving its leadership and commitment to its patients by deploying an advanced clinical-grade AI solution to ensure the best possible outcomes. Artificial intelligence and digital pathology technologies have become an essential part of cancer care programs, and their adoption is a vision shared by both Alverno and Ibex.”
Ibex's solutions help tackle two major challenges in the field: human error and a shortage of pathologists.
“When a person shows potential symptoms of cancer, the next step is a biopsy, an analysis of a sample of the affected tissues,” Ibex CEO Joseph Mossel told The Jerusalem Post in March 2020, when the Galen Prostate solution received the CE-IVD Mark in the European Union.
“The examination of the sample has to be carried out by a pathologist using a microscope. Pathology is a complex medical discipline that requires years of training, and the world is facing a shortage of these specialists, even in countries such as the US and the UK. There is a growing gap between supply and demand.”
In June 2020, Ibex partnered with Medipath, France's largest network of private pathology labs, to deploy Galen for cancer detection.
The Galen received approval in May 2021 in Europe for breast cancer diagnostics after a clinical study was carried out by Israel's Maccabi Healthcare Services and the Institut Curie in France.
“We are impressed with the successful study outcomes and performance of Galen Breast,” Anne Vincent-Salomon, Institut Curie’s director of pathology and the principal investigator in the study, said in a press release. “Our team demonstrated that Ibex’s AI technology goes beyond detecting cancer and provides accurate insights on the type of tumor, the nuclear grading of in situ carcinomas and more.
“I’m confident that artificial intelligence will support breast pathologists and provide a benefit to cancer patients across multiple segments of the diagnostic workflow and look forward to seeing this technology widely adopted in the field.”
Rossella Tercatin contributed to this report.