How Google and iCAD will partner to advance AI mammography

iCAD will help Google Health get its AI mammography technology into clinical practice. Meanwhile, Google will help iCAD improve its algorithms and reach more patients through the cloud.

Google and iCAD are teaming up on the development and commercialization of artificial intelligence (AI) for detecting breast cancer.

It’s Google Health’s first partnership with a mammography AI provider. In addition, it is Google Health’s first deal to introduce its breast imaging AI into clinical practice. Through the collaboration, Google can work on iCAD’s AI products portfolio.

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Nashua, New Hampshire-based iCAD (Nasdaq:ICAD) is licensing Google’s AI technology for breast cancer and personalized risk assessment. The plan is to improve iCAD’s 3D and 2D AI algorithms.

On top of that, iCAD will use Google Cloud’s infrastructure to transform its on-site delivery model to the cloud. The companies say they will expand access for women in regions lacking the infrastructure currently needed for iCAD’s technology.

Google’s AI efforts in breast care

“Joining forces with Google marks a historic milestone for our company, as leveraging Google’s world-class AI and cloud technology elevates the caliber of our market-leading breast AI technologies and may also accelerate adoption and expand access on a global scale,” iCAD President and CEO Stacey Stevens said in a news release.

Google’s research has led to AI technology that can beat radiologists in spotting signs of breast cancer while reducing radiologist workloads. Google is also working with Northwestern Medicine on AI models that can speed up breast cancer diagnosis and flag high-risk cases.

“Google Health’s AI tech could be used to make healthcare more available, more accessible, more accurate,” Google Health AI Head Greg Corrado wrote in a blog post. “But effecting change like this will only be possible if we work closely with forward-looking partners, those with a deep tradition of pioneering innovation and the market experience and wherewithal to put innovations into real workflows. The entire ecosystem needs to work together to advance healthcare solutions that truly better serve patients, doctors, and health systems.”

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iCAD’s AI-powered breast health portfolio

iCAD will validate and integrate the Google Health mammography AI technology into its Breast AI Suite. iCAD’s AI-powered breast health products include:

• ProFound AI for reading digital breast tomosynthesis (3D mammography)
• The ProFound AI Risk clinical decision support tool for short-term risk estimation based on a screening mammogram
• The PowerLook Density Assessment for breast structure, texture, and fibroglandular dispersion
• SecondLook for analysis and flagging of suspicious regions in 2D mammography

“iCAD’s Breast AI technologies are revolutionizing breast cancer screening by making it more accurate, efficient and personalized,” Stevens continued. “With the addition of Google Health’s technology, we are positioned to improve the performance of our algorithms for both 2D and 3D mammography, which will further strengthen our market leadership position and drive worldwide adoption. This partnership will enable us to take advantage of Google Health’s strengths, technological capabilities and resources as a global leader in AI. By joining forces with Google Health, we are providing a pathway to further elevate our portfolio and deliver it on a global scale.”

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