Google partners with iCAD to develop AI breast cancer screening tools

Internet tech giant Google announced that it has licensed its AI research model for breast cancer screening to medical technology company iCAD.

This is the first time Google is licensing the technology, with the hopes that it will eventually lead to more accurate breast cancer detection and risk assessment.

“iCAD will work toward validating and incorporating our mammography AI technology with its products for use in clinical practices with the goal of improving breast cancer detection and assessment of short-term personal cancer risk for the more than two million people globally diagnosed with breast cancer every year,” Google said in a blog post.

With the new technology, better screenings will improve health outcomes and reduce disparities for people around the world.

“By combining the power of our technologies and teams, we strengthen our fight against breast cancer and positively impact the lives of patients and their loved ones across the globe,” said Stacey Stevens, President, and CEO of iCAD.

iCAD’s breast imaging portfolio of tools and Google Health’s mammography AI technology will allow radiologists to focus on their patients, according to the blog post.

In addition to licencing their AI technology, iCAD will use Google Cloud’s secure, scalable infrastructure, allowing them to rapidly expand cloud-hosted solutions into new regions.

By doing so, iCAD can expand access to AI-based tools in underserved areas where infrastructure constraints may limit their ability to provide breast cancer screenings, said the blog post.