Proscia Is Working On Using Artificial Intelligence To Scan For Diseases Amid Scientist Shortage

The United States is currently facing a shortage of pathologists (scientists who study disease), with an overall decline in professionals from 2007 to 2017. According to a study from London’s Royal College of Pathologists, only 3% of U.K. pathology labs have enough pathologists.

According to a 2018 study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, “with many senior pathologists expected to retire in the coming years, a ‘pathologist gap’ is likely to increase through 2030.” 

David West, co-founder and CEO of digital startup Proscia, said his company is looking to help pathologists use their time more effectively and efficiently.

West spoke to Yahoo Finance saying, “The pathologist workforce is declining by 12% every decade, while biopsy volume is increasing. So the pressure on the laboratories is very intense, resulting in increased turnaround time for lab results."

Proscia which is based in Philadelphia recently teamed up with Johns Hopkins School of Medicine to develop applications that incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) to advance the practice of pathology for multiple diseases. West said the platform helps pathologists scan samples faster and evaluate those that need a scientist’s attention, versus those with negative results. With artificial intelligence, the technology can learn what to scan for, find areas in need of attention, and flag them for the pathologist.

West further said, “Most of what the pathologist is doing is spending time looking for that needle-in-a-haystack instance of tumor in a case that’s otherwise benign.”

Johns Hopkins director of pathology informatics, Dr. Alexander Baras commented on the groundbreaking partnership saying, “We are generating new data that does not exist through this collaboration. Right now, the lion’s share of diagnostic knowledge is done with microscope and slides, not by digitizing the slides."

Proscia was founded in 2014 and is primarily focused on  finding more efficient ways to treat cancer, but has also pivoted to work on other specialties.

The CEO, West said the company’s target market right now is Europe and the Middle East because those areas are at least two years ahead of the United States in terms of digital pathology options. He said, “A lot of people are surprised about that. But the crisis in pathology shortage is much more intense in those geographies. We will start in Europe because it is the most mature of all these geographies. We are seeing Asia grow very quickly too.”

The role of AI in health care has been heavily criticized in recent years, due to lack of breakthroughs from more established companies. However, health providers are still working on the promising technology. Johns Hopkins and others like Geisinger Health, are also working with AI products. West says, building out an AI platform is just one step, because the data sets that are used can create an unintentional bias, even in the machines. Paying attention to the quality of the data is important, and ensuring enough variety to provide accurate results is key.

West disclosed that Proscia is working on improving the failures of the past in order to stand up to the regulatory barriers at the regulated time.