Ask The Expert about Pathology with Mindpeak
As a branch of medical science, pathology studies and diagnoses diseases. AI can unlock hidden potential in pathology.
Using cutting-edge genetic technologies and preventing disease are all part of it, from diagnostic testing to treatment advice to preventing disease. It involves examining surgically removed organs, tissues (biopsy samples), bodily fluids, and sometimes even the entire body (autopsy).
It is largely thanks to the pioneering work of pathologists over the last century that illnesses such as polio have been reduced across the globe; major advances have been made in blood transfusion, vaccination, and the treatment of inherited diseases.
Our portfolio company, Mindpeak, operates in this pathology space, particularly in cancer diagnosis research. It uses AI tissue diagnostics, working to provide personalised cancer treatment.
Mindpeak builds automation tools for visual diagnosis using state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and deep learning, which can then be used to provide reliable and accurate cancer diagnosis.
Felix Faber, Founder and CEO of Mindpeak has taken the time to answer some of our questions on the use of AI in pathological testing and research:
1. How is real-time stain-free tissue diagnostics and AI transforming pathology assessments?
Felix Farber (FF): AI has a big impact on pathology by making existing readouts faster and more reproducible. This is the obvious part. But then, we often forget that each tissue slide has up to a million cells and that AI can find cells, areas and other features and create tens of millions of data points just out of one slide.
Humanity has not made use of this precious data to date, and we are just at the beginning of finding out what we can do with it, ranging from predicting genetic mutations to very narrow subgroups of responders to drugs to other characteristics of humans that we haven’t thought of yet.
2. In what ways does fast digital pathology challenge genomic sequencing data?
In recent times, we have seen great results in predicting genomic mutations out of tissue by AI. As H&E stained tissue is already available for every patient in pathology, reading genomics out of tissue enables us to have a cheaper genomic readout while saving significantly on turnaround time. Basically, all you need is a digitized image of your H&E tissue, and the AI produces a result in seconds.
This is not only relevant for patient diagnosis but also for pharma companies searching for patients for clinical trials. Because of their availability and the lower costs, larger cohorts of patients can be screened for relevant patients.
3. What role will automated real-time pathology assessment play in clinical settings and as a predictive biomarker for biopharma?
For the routine diagnostic setting, it is absolutely clear that each and every slide will soon be pre-analysed by AI before a doctor checks the result. It is necessary because there is a huge labour shortage in pathology. And it increases reproducibility for the good of the patient.
For pharma companies and also the healthcare system, the predictive power of AI will have an even bigger impact than decision support. We already have evidence today that we can find better biomarkers with predictive value in tissue to discriminate between responders and non-responders of a certain therapy.
For pharma companies, this means in the future, we will likely see AI as a companion diagnostic product alongside drugs, but it can also mean that payers want to pre-screen patients with AI before certain therapies are recommended.
As we continue to harness the power of AI and deep learning, the future of pathology promises not only more precise and personalised healthcare solutions but also a paradigm shift in how we approach disease diagnosis and treatment.
Through Mindpeak’s work, technology and medical expertise collaborate to create breakthroughs that could revolutionise patient care and improve its effectiveness, efficiency, and accessibility.
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