NEW YORK – Royal Philips and Paige announced Thursday that they have formed a strategic collaboration to deliver clinical-grade artificial intelligence technologies to pathology laboratories.
The AI technologies, starting with Paige Prostate software, aim to help pathologists identify, quantify, and characterize cancer in tissue samples and make precise diagnoses more efficiently, the firms said. The ultimate goal is to positively impact pathologist's workflow and treatment planning for patients, they added.
Digital images of tissue samples make it possible for pathologists to diagnose samples on a computer display using advanced imaging analysis and workflow software.
Several pathology laboratories have converted Paige's glass slide-based workflow to a digital workflow, using an FDA-cleared digital pathology solution from Philips, the firms said, adding that their collaboration aims to deliver this kind of technology into routine clinical practice.
When digital images are available, Paige Prostate software is applied automatically to detect and localize prostate cancer, providing pathologists with information they can use in their evaluation of prostate biopsies, the firms said.
"Through our open digital pathology platform approach, we team up with leading computational pathology solution providers, such as Paige, to create the ultimate end-to-end oncology workflow for our customers," Marlon Thompson, business leader of digital and computational pathology at Philips, said in a statement.
Financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Amsterdam-based Philips said it anticipates marketing Paige Prostate to European pathology labs in 2020.
Last month, New York-based Paige announced that its artificial intelligence-based prostate cancer detection solution and pathology viewer has been CE marked.