Tel Aviv-based Ibex to provide AI cancer diagnosis support to UK's NHS
Ibex's Galen Prostate solution has been adopted by LDPath, a major provider of pathology services to the NHS.
By DONNA RACHEL EDMUNDSIbex uses AI to help pathologists minimize diagnostic errors(photo credit: IBEX MEDICAL ANALYTICS)
Cancer diagnosis in Britain's National Health Service is set to get an AI upgrade, thanks to a Tel Aviv based Ibex Medical Analytics. On Tuesday, Ibex announced its involvement in the UK's first rollout of clinical grade AI applications for cancer detection in pathology.In recent years, a steady increase in the number of cancer cases has coincided with a world-wide decrease in the number of pathologists, that is, medical workers who examine tissue samples for signs of disease including cancers. In the UK, this shortage of pathologists have led to waiting time for diagnosis of cancers of up to six weeks, placing pressure on pathology services which can lead to missed diagnoses.In addition, traditional pathology techniques are still in use, whereby tissue samples on glass slides are examined by pathologists under the microscope. Reporting is still often carried out on paper. The dwindling number of pathologists means that samples often have to be couriered between different locations in order for a number of experts to examine them.Enter Ibex's Galen Prostate solution, which has been adopted by LDPath, a leading provider of digital pathology services to the NHS. LDPath provides histopathological imaging and reporting services to 24 NHS trusts across the UK, including large teaching hospitals and district general hospitals.Prostate biopsies reviewed by LDPath's pathologists will now be reviewed by Ibex's AI algorithm as well as a human pathologist, who will be alerted if there are major discrepancies between the AI's diagnosis and the human pathologist's assessment. The program will therefore act as a safety net, minimizing missed diagnoses of prostate cancer.“We are excited to collaborate with LDPath to bring a paradigm shift for pathology in the UK, and around the world, increasing efficiency and improving accuracy of cancer diagnostics,” said Joseph Mossel, Ibex Medical Analytics CEO and Co-founder. “Cancer cases continue to rise, and with the pathology practice experiencing a worldwide shortage, AI-based technologies can drive new workflows for pathology that will be critical for improving cancer care practices for patients, pathologists, labs and entire healthcare systems.”“We are proud to be the first UK pathology provider to integrate AI into the digital pathology workflow by partnering with Ibex to improve cancer diagnosis,” said Sanj Lallie, Director of Operations at LDPath.“This is a significant step in realizing the benefits of AI tools within the UK as we continue to redefine traditional workflows across our NHS network. Our NHS clients will benefit from this additional quality assurance measure as well as new service offerings, including singular AI screening of all prostate biopsies within a 24-hour period and UKAS internal audits. The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the need for advancing innovation and utilizing new technologies to improve patient care. By using AI and digital pathology, we are better prepared to continue to work effectively during lockdowns, and handle the anticipated surge in the volume of tests and an increase of the pathology workload once we emerge from this pandemic.”
