Philips Collaborates with AI Startup Ibex to Accelerate Adoption of AI-Powered Digital Pathology Solutions

The announcement marks the latest extension to Philips’ AI-enabled Precision Diagnosis solutions portfolio, which leverages Philips and third-party AI solutions to deliver cutting-edge clinical decision support and optimized workflows that enable healthcare providers to deliver on the Quadruple Aim of better patient outcomes, improved patient and staff experiences, and lower cost of care.

The trend towards centralized pathology labs, the global shortage of trained pathologists, and increasing demands on histopathology posed by the growing number of cancer patients, leads pathology labs to actively seek efficiency-enhancing solutions that enable to maintain high accuracy levels. Digital pathology, enabled by solutions such as Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution has already been shown to improve pathology lab productivity by 25%, while also allowing remote image reading by specialists and the immediate sharing of images with referring hospitals as part of comprehensive pathology reports. Ibex’s AI-powered Galen platform further streamlines workflow and improves accuracy via automated case prioritization, cancer heatmaps, grading and other productivity-enhancing tools.

Philips digital pathology solution is a comprehensive turnkey solution that helps to speed and simplify access to histopathology information across cancer care and beyond, supports full-scale digitization of histology in pathology labs and lab networks, and help increases workflow efficiency. At the heart is Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution, which comprises an ultra-fast pathology slide scanner, an image management system and display, which includes advanced software tools to manage slide scanning, image storage, case review, and the sharing of patient information. By fully digitizing post-sample-preparation histopathology, it facilitates the streamlining of pathology workflows and enables the connectivity needed between multi-disciplinary teams and specialties when making complex cancer diagnosis and treatment decisions, from early detection and precision diagnosis through to precision treatment and predictable outcomes.

Ibex’s Galen platform adds AI-powered cancer detection, case prioritization, grading and other productivity-enhancing insights. Users have reported significant improvements in diagnostic efficiency, with 27% reduction in time-to-diagnosis compared to conventional microscope viewing, one to two-day reductions in total turnaround time, and 37% productivity gain. In addition to cancer, the AI platform supports pathologists in the accurate grading, as well as detection and diagnosis of multiple clinical features, such as tumor size, perineural invasion, high-grade PIN (Prostatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia) and more. The accuracy level of Galen Prostate for cancer detection was the highest level reported in the field, with a sensitivity rate of 98.46%, specificity of 97.33% and an AUC of 0.991. When used as an automated ‘second read,’ the platform alerts pathologists when discrepancies between their diagnosis and the AI algorithm’s findings are detected, providing a safety net against error or misdiagnosis, previously reported as high as 12%, and increasing overall quality of care.

Through breakthrough innovations and partnerships, Philips integrates intelligence and automation into its Precision Diagnosis portfolio, including smart diagnostic systems, integrated workflow solutions that transform departmental operations, advanced informatics that provides diagnostic confidence, and care pathway solutions that allow medical professionals to tailor treatment to individual patients. By developing and integrating these AI-enabled applications, the company aims to enhance the ability to turn data into actionable insights and drive the right care in the right sequence at the right time. The latest partnership announcement with Ibex follows recent AI partnership announcements with DiA Imaging Analysis for AI-powered ultrasound applications, and AI software provider Lunit, incorporating its chest detection suite into Philips diagnostic X-ray suite. These partner solutions complement Philips own AI solutions in personal health, precision diagnosis and treatment, and connected care.

“Building on our strong portfolio to support clinical decision-making in oncology, we bring together the power of imaging, pathology, genomics and longitudinal data with insights from artificial intelligence (AI) to help empower clinicians to deliver clear care pathways with predictable outcomes for every patient,” said Kees Wesdorp, Chief Business Leader, Precision Diagnosis at Philips. “By teaming with Ibex to incorporate their AI into our Digital Pathology Solutions, we’re further able to provide a continuous pathway, where critical patient data is made visible to both pathologists and oncologists to help improve the clinician experience and patient outcomes.”

“Pathology is transforming at an increasing pace and AI is one of the major drivers, supporting a more rapid and accurate cancer diagnosis,” said Joseph Mossel, CEO and Co-founder of Ibex Medical Analytics. “By joining forces with Philips, the leader in digital pathology deployments, we can offer new end-to-end solutions enabling pathologists to implement integrated, AI-powered workflows across a broader segment of the diagnostic pathway, improving the quality of patient care and strengthening the business case for digitization.”