Getty
Getty
According to Our World in Data, 56 million people died globally in 2017 from non-communicable diseases. And each day, 26,181 people die from cancer.
The National Cancer Institute reported that lung cancer accounts for 25% of all cancer deaths.
According to Paul Pagano, Interium CEO and Chief Scientific Officer, LungLife AI around 80 percent of lung cancer is diagnosed at a late stage due to inadequate early detection strategies, which generally leads to poor patient outcomes.
LungLife AI says it’s using artificial intelligence (AI) to diagnose lung cancer from a minimal blood draw. The health tech startup has raised $45.8 M in funding and is focusing on early-stage diagnosis of lung cancer.
To create their AI, the company partnered with Persistent Systems in 2018 to develop AI and machine learning algorithms for its diagnostic technology.
Pagano said that the machine learning-derived algorithm developed by Persistent accelerated their efforts to offer more reliable early detection strategies for lung cancer.
“There is an increasing level of awareness in the healthcare industry that AI is not just a buzzword but can truly be a tool that improves performance and augments clinician effectiveness,” said Pagano.
When a patient has a CT scan, indeterminant lung nodules that look like cancer may be found. With traditional methods, it’s challenging to determine if those are cancer nodules or something more benign like scar tissue.
LungLife AI says it can reduce analysis time by almost 70% by accurate and automated cell categorization. Pagano says the technology has also reduced the incidence of misclassified cells by up to 90% and has identified circulating tumor cells missed by [..] traditional image analysis tools.
“Healthcare is undergoing a significant transformation driven by the shift to becoming more digitally patient-centric. This means keeping patients, care providers, and facilities as efficient as possible,” said Chris O’Connor, CEO of Persistent Systems.
LungLife AI’s cancer diagnostic laboratory received certification in December 2019 from Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments in California.
