Men across England could benefit from faster diagnosis and
quicker treatment of prostate cancer following the expansion of a
pioneering trial of Artificial Intelligence to analyse biopsies.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men. In the UK,
nearly 100,000 men undergo a prostate biopsy every year - a
number expected to double in the next ten years. More than 40,000
men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in England every year.
The technology, which has been developed by health tech company
Ibex Medical Analytics, is designed to help reduce diagnostic
errors and speed up diagnosis. Clinicians will compare the
results of the AI analysis to current diagnosis methods, where
biopsies are meticulously reviewed by a pathologist.
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care said:
Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform our health
and care system and studies like this are vital in understanding
the impact AI can make.
Cancer diagnosis and treatment has remained a top priority
throughout the pandemic and I am committed to busting the backlog
in cancer care.
The earlier cancer is detected the quicker it is treated leading
to better outcomes for patients, so this ground-breaking work has
the potential to benefit thousands of people.
Funded as part of the £140 million NHSX AI in Health and Care
awards, the study will enable leading researchers to evaluate the
effectiveness of the AI solution Galen™ Prostate in detecting and
grading cancer in prostate biopsies using samples from 600 men
over 14 months.
The funding will be used for deploying and evaluating the AI
technology, with the potential for it to be adopted more widely
across the health service, cutting diagnosis times and freeing up
valuable clinician time.
Minister for Innovation said:
I am committed to ensuring the UK becomes a leader in health
technology, including through pioneering AI studies like this so
our NHS and patients can benefit from better diagnosis and
treatment.
Initiatives like the “AI in Health and Care” awards are
accelerating the testing and evaluation of the most promising AI
technologies to improve our health and care system.
The next round of funding is open now, and I look forward to
seeing more trailblazing organisations like Ibex Medical
Analytics demonstrate how AI can be used to revolutionise
healthcare.
Matthew Gould, NHSX CEO, said:
We are currently caught between having too few pathologists and
rising demand for biopsies. This technology could help, and give
thousands of men with prostate cancer faster, more accurate
diagnoses.
It is a prime example of how AI can help clinicians improve care
for patients as we recover from the pandemic.
Professor Hashim Ahmed, chair of urology at Imperial College
London and principal investigator, said:
We strongly believe that AI has the potential to enhance both
quality and efficiency, which is of paramount importance as we
focus on putting every patient on the path to recovery.
Ibex’s technology has demonstrated its robustness on several
studies abroad and so we look forward to seeing its performance
and utility firsthand in the NHS.
Joseph Mossel, CEO and co-founder of Ibex Medical Analytics,
said:
This funding acknowledges the potential of AI in pathology
practice and the scientific evidence and clinical utility we have
demonstrated to date.
The UK is clearly on track to become a world leader in
implementing AI technologies in healthcare and we look forward to
cooperating with our NHS partners and introducing our AI solution
into multiple pathology labs in the UK.
Dr David Snead, pathologist at University Hospitals Coventry
& Warwickshire and director of PathLAKE, an Innovate UK
funded center of excellence for AI in digital pathology and
radiology said:
We are excited to participate in this important validation of
Ibex’s platform. I believe that AI will forever change the
pathology practice.
Pathologists will adapt and learn to utilize such tools in ways
that provide better care to our patients. With initiatives such
as the AI in Health and Care Award and PathLAKE, the UK is well
positioned to lead this transformation.
Background information
New hospitals joining the study are:
- Imperial College Healthcare
- University College London
- University Hospital of Coventry & Warwickshire
- Chelsea and Westminster Hospital (both Chelsea and West
Middlesex sites)
- University Hospital Southampton
