BD partners with Techcyte to offer AI-enhanced cervical cancer screening
BD has partnered with Techcyte to offer an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled cervical cancer screening system. Accordingly, Techcyte has developed a system to reduce the amount of cells pathologists need to review on BD Surepath and Hologic Thinprep slides. The system, which has yet to win approval in the U.S., uses AI to present “the most diagnostically relevant images.” BD supports screening with its human papillomavirus (HPV) assay and liquid-based Pap test, Surepath. While HPV testing is, by BD’s own admission, more sensitive, the company expects Pap tests to “continue to play an important diagnostic role, as programs are transitioning to the new standard of care.” Techcyte’s system is compatible with multiple liquid-based cytology preparations, including Surepath. Traditionally, cytotechnologists and pathologists viewed glass slides under a microscope. To use Techcyte’s system, technologists prepare slides using systems such as Surepath and scan them to create digital files. The AI algorithm then identifies cells with features that suggest they may be diagnostically relevant. The system is CE marked under the old European Union directive. However, Techcyte has yet to win Food and Drug Administration approval or receive a CE mark under the new EU regulation. BD and Techcyte expect to make the system available in Europe in the first half of the year and enter the U.S. market once the FDA approves the system for clinical use.
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