A groundbreaking new AI technology has been developed by Paige, a global leader in digital pathology solutions and clinical AI applications. The product, named Virchow, utilizes one of the largest libraries of digitized images and unique computational resources provided by Microsoft Research. Unlike traditional AI applications for cancer detection, which focused on one tissue type at a time and took months or years to develop, Virchow can detect cancer across more than 17 different tissue types, including skin, lung, and the gastrointestinal tract.
Paige’s innovative approach is made possible by their Foundation Model, which leverages data derived from over 4 million digitized slides. This eliminates the constraints of developing single tissue products, allowing for the efficient creation of AI applications for cancer detection across a multitude of tumor types. The early success of the Foundation Model can be attributed to the size, quality, and diversity of the datasets used to build it. Paige’s Director of AI Science, Siqi Liu, PhD, emphasizes the significance of this development, stating that it provides the pathology community with powerful tools for diagnosis, prognosis, biomarker development, and targeted selection of patients for precision therapy.
The exceptional performance of Paige’s multi-cancer application across various tissue types is considered state-of-the-art in cancer pathology AI. To ensure clinical-grade quality, Paige is committed to seeking FDA regulatory oversight for products based on the Foundation Model technology. This regulatory clearance is seen as critical in upholding safety and quality standards in the application of AI in cancer diagnostics.
Apart from its multi-tissue capabilities, the Foundation Model and its embeddings can be applied in various upstream and downstream applications throughout the healthcare continuum. By combining the outputs of the Foundation Model with data from other modalities, such as genomics and radiology, greater insights can be derived about the nature of cancer, its behavior, and response to specific treatments.
The development of Virchow marks a significant leap forward in cancer diagnostics and is expected to benefit patients, pathologists, and the broader medical community. Paige’s commitment to excellence and regulatory milestones further solidifies their position at the forefront of AI innovation in healthcare.
The source of the article is from the blog motopaddock.nl