Revolutionising early cancer detection with AI

The AI enhances images from full-body scans, detecting abnormalities in 13 organs

Spotted: The latest analysis from the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer(IARC) shows that the global burden of cancer is growing. Scientists predict an increase from 20 million new cases of cancer in 2022 to more than 35 million new cases in 2050.

Early detection increases survival rates significantly, and healthcare providers around the world are leaning into new technologies to help speed up diagnoses and better target treatments. In the US, healthtech company Ezra has built a full-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system that uses AI to screen for cancer in up to 13 organs.

Ezra’s full body scan takes only one hour to complete and scans organs including the brain, lungs, liver, pancreas, kidney, prostate, and uterus. The company’s goal is to make annual, full-body cancer scans part of a regular healthcare routine and is working towards a target of completing one million scans a year by 2030.

The company has built a suite of tools to manage the entire screening process, beginning with a personal risk assessment for every new patient. The AI enhances MRI images and converts the radiology reports into easy-to-understand terms and assessments. The images and results are made available in a patient-centred version that highlights key findings and a clinician-focused version that helps medical providers prepare reports for patients.

Scans are available for individuals, couples, and groups. A thirty-minute scan for one person is available for $1350 (around €1245) and screens the head, neck, abdomen, and pelvis. The sixty-minute scan for an individual includes a spinal scan and costs $1950 (around €1798). For $2500 (around €2305), the lungs are added to the scan and analysis. Every scan comes with a personal care advisor service to help patients understand their results and make plans for next steps in their care. Group scans and multi-year plans help keep couples and families healthy together in the longer term.

Having recently raised an additional $21 million (around €19.4 million) in funding, Ezra plans to continue expanding access to its technology throughout the United States, improve the strength of its AI analysis, and make its services as affordable as possible.

Springwise’s library contains a number of examples of innovations in healthcare that are using artificial intelligence to help medical professionals overcome staff shortages by prioritising patients needing care sooner and helping with cancer detection.

Written By: Keely Khoury