Artificial intelligence will soon help doctors detect cancerous lesions in real-time during endoscopic procedures, through a new collaboration between medical device company Optiscan Imaging Ltd (Optiscan) and Monash University's digital health experts.
Announced today, an agreement between Monash University's Faculty of Information Technology and Optiscan will advance a project to develop a next generation gastrointestinal (GI) flexible endomicroscope enabled with edge-artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
Leader of the project's AI research component, Associate Professor Zongyuan Ge and Dr. Yasmeen George from the AIM for Health Lab at the Faculty's Department of Data Science and AI, said the goal was to develop an AI analysis platform with a miniature digital microscope from Optiscan that can fit biopsy channels of most endoscopes and provide real-time images at a subcellular level.
"The system will be powered by an AI engine to automatically detect and analyse abnormal cells," Associate Professor Ge said.
"It will allow clinicians to conduct real-time GI endomicroscopy examinations and initiate immediate medical intervention if abnormalities are detected, which will significantly reduce cancer screening times, increase the chances of successful treatment and improve the prognosis of patients."
Faculty of Information Technology Dean Professor Ann Nicholson welcomed the partnership and the opportunity to translate the Faculty's leading AI research to produce tangible outcomes.
"Uniting advanced AI with industry capabilities in this way is inspiring. It is a demonstration of how industrial innovation can join hands with research expertise to drive meaningful, practical improvements in patient health and reshape the future of cancer detection," Professor Nicholson said.
The project is supported by the Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P) grant from the Australian Department of Industry, Science, and Resources, awarded to Optiscan.
Optiscan CEO and Managing Director Dr Camile Farah said the company was thrilled to partner with Monash University for the next development phase of their innovative GI endomicroscope.
"This agreement between us and Monash University represents a significant step towards better diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases," Dr Farah said.
"It also represents another chapter in the longstanding relationship Optiscan has with Monash University, with our technology originally created at this prestigious university."
Monash University's digital health researchers will join Optiscan's existing partners Design & Industry and the University Medical Center Mainz in Germany to progress this project.
Associate Professor Zongyuan Ge from the Faculty of Information Technology's Department of Data Science and AI is
