Maccabi Healthcare Services' KSM Research and Innovation Center has partnered with Ibex Medical Analytics in a pilot of Ibex Medical Analytics' Galen Breast artificial intelligence-based diagnostic solution, Maccabi and Ibex announced last week.
Breast cancer is the most common malignant disease in women worldwide, with over 2 million new cases each year. Early and accurate detection is critical for effective treatment and saving women's lives.
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The pilot, operating at Maccabi's Pathology Institute includes 2,000 breast biopsies on which pathologists will use Galen Breast as a First Read application. This is the first-ever deployment of an AI application for primary diagnosis of breast cancer.
During the pilot, all breast biopsies examined at Maccabi will be digitized using a digital pathology scanner, and automatically analyzed by the Galen Breast solution prior to review by a pathologist. The solution detects suspicious findings on biopsies, such as regions with high probability of including cancer cells, and classifies them to one of three risk levels, ranging from high risk of cancer to benign.
Ibex's AI solution has been used at Maccabi's Pathology Institute since 2018, and all breast and prostate biopsies undergo an AI-based second read. The technology alerts pathologists when there are discrepancies between the pathologist's diagnosis and the AI algorithm's findings, thus providing a safety net in case of error or misdiagnosis.
"We are proud to use AI as an integral part of breast cancer diagnosis," said Dr. Judith Sandbank, director of the Pathology Institute at Maccabi. "We have already had a successful experience with Ibex's AI solution, enabling us to implement quality control and perform second read on biopsies, and now we are making a significant leap forward with the integration of AI into primary cancer diagnosis."
Ibex co-founder and CTO Dr. Chaim Linhart said, "Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing healthcare, and its integration into clinical practice will significantly improve the ability to diagnose cancer quickly and efficiently."
"Our solutions are used in routine practice in pathology laboratories worldwide, and have already helped detect breast and prostate cancers that were misdiagnosed by pathologists as benign. It is now time to take AI to the next level and employ its capabilities across a broader range of the diagnostic workflow," Linhart said.
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