Google Announces Partnership With iCAD For AI-Enabled Cancer Detection Software
Earlier this week, search engine giant Google announced that it was entering into a partnership with iCAD to help in the fight against breast cancer. The announcement states that iCAD, a cancer detection company, will enter into a licensing partnership. Through the partnership, iCAD will integrate Google’s AI platform with its suite of AI solutions for breast imaging. The goal is to be able to improve the company’s ability to detect cancer at its early stages. Since Google Health’s partnership with Northwestern Medicine in 2021, they’ve worked closely on new clinical research studies to explore if AI models could reduce the time to diagnose breast cancer. It seems now, with this partnership they’re moving to the next stage.
Stacey Stevens, President and CEO of iCAD stated, “By combining the power of our technologies and teams, we strengthen our fight against breast cancer and positively impact the lives of patients and their loved ones across the globe.” By empowering radiologists and other clinical professionals, the technology can also assist in reducing the lag and delay when it comes to screening, allowing for a patient-focused approach at a time when anxiety is at its highest.
Part of the deal will also see iCAD also make use of Google Cloud’s infrastructure, providing the company with a secure platform with a rapid deployment ability that scales, allowing them to focus on regions under-served or short on specialists. This would bypass the infrastructure challenges of non-cloud approaches. The goal of this is to decrease screening and reporting time while improving overall accuracy. This is all aimed at improving patient experiences.
Over the last few months, AI has tremendously impacted medical science. We reported a few months ago how MIT researchers are using a new neural network to detect Parkinson’s Disease by breathing patterns. In another instance, NTU scientists are using AI to diagnose and treat mental health disorders. But for Google, this is new territory as the company expands its AI offerings. If proven to be successful, the effects of AI growing in scale can be a medical game changer. The possibilities of such infrastructure could reduce the costs of medicine and help professionals treat patients at the earliest stages. Which of course would mean higher survival rates overall.
Data science and AI still have a ways to go, but their progress in the medical field has been a highlight of 2022. It’s a wonder what 2023 and beyond will see as the technology continues to advance.
Originally posted on OpenDataScience.com
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