Technology is taking leaps and bounds in the world of medicine and early cancer detection is not far behind. Microsoft has announced an exciting collaboration with digital pathology provider Paige to develop image-based AI model largest in the world, and its objective is clear: to help detect cancer early.
This innovative artificial intelligence model is being trained with an unprecedented amount of data, including billions of images. Its ability to identify both common cancers and rarer cancers that are notoriously difficult to diagnose promises to be an invaluable tool for doctors.. At a time when medical staff shortages and the number of cancer cases continue to rise, this collaboration could make a difference.
Pathologists, who play a crucial role in medicine, have been using a tried-and-true method to diagnose cancer for decades: examining tissue on a glass slide under a microscope. However, Paige is working to modernize this process. Its Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared FullFocus visualization tool allows pathologists to examine scanned digital slides on a screen instead of relying on a microscope.
A major challenge in digital pathology is the cost associated with data storage and collection. Digitizing a single slide can require more than a gigabyte of storage, which can be prohibitive for smaller health systems. Paige, with its wealth of data and in collaboration with Microsoft, is overcoming these barriers.
Paige’s original AI model used more than a billion images to identify specific cancers. But, the model in development with Microsoft is “orders of magnitude larger than anything that exists.” It is being trained on 4 million slides to identify common and rare cancers, and is being heralded as the largest publicly announced computer vision model.
Although the technology is powerful, it is not intended to replace pathologists. Instead, it is considered a tool that will enrich your diagnostic ability. Microsoft’s Desney Tan emphasizes that AI should be driven by humans, not replace them.
This exciting project doesn’t stop here. Paige and Microsoft will publish a paper on the model, but the review and approval process will take time. However, the impact promises to be revolutionary. It will help solve storage problems in health systems and accelerate diagnostics. For many patients, it could mean the difference between waiting days or weeks to find out their health status.
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Source: La Opinion
