NEWS
Aiforia announces AI diagnostics partnership
Fimlab Laboratories has selected Aiforia Technologies as the provider for breast and prostate cancer diagnostics solutions. Fimlab is Finland’s largest healthcare laboratory company, owned by the wellbeing services counties of Pirkanmaa, Central Finland, Kanta-Häme, Ostrobothnia, and Päijät-Häme. Earlier this year, Aiforia announced a framework agreement in which it was selected as one of the suppliers of AI solutions for Fimlab to support pathology diagnostics. Three best suppliers were chosen for AI models for nine applications and a development platform for AI models. Aiforia was qualified as one of the suppliers for eight applications and the development platform. The AI solutions for breast and prostate
cancer, representing three applications, are the first order for Aiforia within the multi- year framework agreement. The value of this first order for Aiforia is approximately €300,000 for the first year.
“Fimlab is a true pioneer in Finland in adopting AI solutions to support diagnostics in pathology. It is an honour to be part of this progressive step in our home country,” says Jukka Tapaninen, CEO of Aiforia.
Paige launches second generation of Virchow AI foundation model
Paige, a global leader in clinical AI applications for cancer, in collaboration with Microsoft, has unveiled the second generation of Virchow, its million- slide foundation model for cancer.
As additions
to Paige’s suite of foundation models, the world’s largest and most advanced AI models in clinical pathology, Virchow2 and Virchow2G offer a deeper understanding of cells and tissue, aiming to redefine cancer diagnosis and treatment. Built with a diverse dataset of over 3,000,000 pathology slides from over 800 laboratories and 45 countries, Virchow2 and Virchow2G offer unparalleled data diversity and depth. Trained using de-identified data from over 225,000 patients, these models encompass a broad spectrum of gender, race, ethnicity, and geographical regions, providing a more holistic understanding of cancer.
This comprehensive dataset also includes over 40 different tissue types stained with H&E and diverse immune- stains (IHC), making it suited to a wider variety of applications. With 1.8 billion parameters, tripling the size of previous models, Virchow2G is the largest pathology model ever created.
Trained in collaboration with Microsoft researchers and using Microsoft’s advanced supercomputing infrastructure, these models set a new record in AI training scale, surpassing previous performance standards, as showcased in a recently published technical report. “Our collaboration with Microsoft has been pivotal in the development of Virchow, which has already earned recognition in Nature Medicine,” said Thomas Fuchs, Founder and Chief Scientist of Paige. “We are merely scratching the surface of what these foundation models can achieve in transforming our understanding of cancer through computational pathology. Virchow’s immense scale unlocks key information that can be used to drive groundbreaking innovations, enabling precise diagnostics, targeted treatments, and personalised patient care.”
Government acts on CQC failings ahead of full report
An independent review of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has identified significant internal failings which is hampering its ability to identify poor performance at hospitals, care homes and GP practices. The interim report, led by Dr Penny Dash, chair of the North West London Integrated Care Board, found inspection levels were still well below where they were pre-COVID, a lack of clinical expertise among inspectors, a lack of consistency in assessments and problems with the CQC’s IT system.
12 These failings mean the regulator
is currently unable to consistently and effectively judge the quality of health and care services, including those in need of urgent improvement. The report also found that social care providers are waiting too long for their registration and rating to be updated, with implications for local capacity.
The Government will now take immediate steps to restore public confidence in the effectiveness of health and social care regulation, including by increasing the level of oversight of the CQC,
ahead of a full report by Dr Dash, which will be published in the autumn. This works forms part of the
Government’s wider efforts to identify the challenges facing the NHS and take action to address them head on as part of its mission to build a health service fit for the future. To start to rebuild its credibility Dr Dash has highlighted urgent actions the CQC can take, including overhauling the inspection and assessment system, rapidly improving operational performance and fixing faltering IT systems.
SEPTEMBER 2024
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