Microsoft, Median Technologies Ink Big Data Initiative For Early Cancer Detection
By Jof Enriquez,
Follow me on Twitter @jofenriq
Microsoft and France-based Median Technologies are teaming up to extract biomarkers from medical images using advanced algorithms, with the aim to help oncologists diagnose and treat cancer patients in the United States, Europe, and Asia.
Experts believe that big data analytics in medical imaging help limit human subjectivity in interpretation of the images, paving the way for more accurate drugs and medical devices tailored to individual patients – an emerging approach, sometimes called precision medicine, that also factors in a person's genes, lifestyle, and environment.
“Precision Medicine is about to revolutionize how diagnostic and biological data is used to pinpoint and deliver care that is preventive, targeted and effective,” said Fredrik Brag, Median Technologies CEO, in a press release. “Extracting biomarkers of disease from medical images is at the core of the Precision Medicine effort. Big Data computing and analytics will allow efficient processing and analysis of imaging biomarkers which is essential for early detection of cancer and monitoring of new targeted cancer treatments. Our collaboration with Microsoft will allow us to deliver these solutions into routine clinical practice on a global scale on the Azure Cloud Computing platform."
Under the partnership, Median's IBIOPSY imaging biomarker phenotyping system will be installed in Microsoft's Azure cloud platform to help medical facilities and physicians in the US, Europe, and Asia detect and monitor cancer. According to news website Labiotech, Median has, since 2002, been developing imaging software for oncology, which involves extracting cancer biomarkers from CT scan images to aid clinical drug trials and to help physicians determine the best therapy using a personalized medicine approach.
According to the company website, Median's technology core consists of a wide set of algorithms for complex image analysis, including automated and semi-automated organ and lesion segmentation; automated calculation of quantitative lesion parameters such as surface, volume, density, and texture; and artificial intelligence through data analysis and classifiers.
Median and Microsoft said in their announcement that they "will focus on the development of novel predictive analytics methods based on machine learning and encryption capabilities that will be available on Azure."
Microsoft is leveraging the computational advantages of the Azure cloud platform for several healthcare purposes. For example, Azure is being used to help store and analyze genomic information to help identify cancer treatments. It also is being developed as a platform to collect information from different monitoring devices, and to provide critical analytics that can alert clinicians to dangerous trends in a patient’s vital signs.
Like Microsoft, other prominent technology companies are betting big that big data can transform the fight against cancer and other diseases.
For example, IBM announced recently a medical imaging collaborative with an industry-wide network of partners, wherein IBM Watson cognitive imaging analytics will be applied to images to help doctors create treatments plans for cancer patients. The company has forged alliances with Johnson & Johnson, Apple, and Medtronic on its big data plans. IBM also has beefed up its data analytics capacity by buying a raft of imaging software companies in the past year.
Also this week, Philips bought the medical imaging software firm PathXL to boost its digital pathology business. Meanwhile, Alphabet's Verily is implementing big data analytics in a number of initiatives, including using a connectivity device and multiple sensors to collect health data, and applying machine learning algorithms to research cures for multiple sclerosis and other conditions. Technology heavyweights Intel, Qualcomm, Dell, and Samsung are getting in on the action, as well.