US-based medical technology firm iCAD is set to partner with two researchers at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden on the development of an artificial intelligence (AI)-based system to detect individual risk of breast cancer development.
Karolinska Institutet researchers created a risk prediction model for breast cancer as part of an ongoing research agreement with iCAD.
The model was devised using information from mammography images delivered via iCAD’s AI cancer detection and density assessment solutions.
Early studies demonstrated that the model could help identify women with a high risk of developing the cancer. The partners have enhanced the system using iCAD’s new ProFound AI algorithm for breast cancer detection.
Karolinska Institutet professor Per Hall said: “Most current risk models are population-based and focus on lifetime or long-term risk. Our research using the iCAD AI technology has shown that by simply using the information available in the mammogram images, we can more accurately stratify women based on short-term risk.
“Understanding short-term risk will open the door to new paradigms in both the prevention and treatment of breast cancer.”
Under the extended partnership, the medical technology company plans to work with the researchers to develop a new solution for commercial use to evaluate an individual’s risk for breast cancer.
The company and the researchers plan to sign an exclusive licence deal for the breast cancer risk assessment model.
iCAD executive chairman and CEO Mike Klein said: “The fusion of research from Karolinska Institute with iCAD’s advanced AI capability has the potential to transform breast disease management.
“We envision that novel AI technology will further evolve the clinician and patient interface to a proactive disease management approach where prediction, and possibly even prevention, become a part of the clinical dialogue.”
