Cleveland Clinic Enters Artificial Intelligence-Driven Pathology Collab

Cleveland Clinic is entering into a collaboration with PathAI to build a digital pathology infrastructure to research next-generation pathology diagnostics.

Based in Boston, PathAI creates AI-powered research tools and pathology services. The company aims to produce accurate diagnoses through its platform that is supported by machine- and deep-learning approaches.

Cleveland Clinic, one of the most prominent health systems in the country, will combine its clinical expertise and data with PathAI’s platform to conduct translational research and clinical diagnostics.

“Our commitment is to provide the best possible care for our patients, and it is increasingly clear that AI-powered pathology can radically enhance diagnostic accuracy and treatment selection,” said Brian Rubin, MD, PhD, chair of the Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Institute at Cleveland Clinic, in the news release. “By doing this work, we’re able to maximize the value of machine learning for our patients and fuel deeper innovation that can result in better outcomes.”  

The collaboration aims to enhance treatment for various disease states using a multi-modal dataset. PathAI will use digitized pathology slides to improve AI algorithms with the help of clinical information.

Cleveland Clinic employees will also gain experience from this collaboration, learning to care for patients using AI-powered pathology diagnostics.

Further, the health system will become an equity holder in PathAI as part of the collaboration.

“This exciting collaboration accelerates PathAI’s mission to provide precision pathology for everyone. Cleveland Clinic is the ideal partner, with its many leading clinicians, educators, and researchers who are committed to transforming patient care across disease areas,” said Andy Beck, MD, CEO of PathAI, in the press release.

AI-focused collaborations are becoming a common strategy to enhance particular health services.

For example, Health at Scale, a healthcare machine intelligence company, and Walmart recently partnered to match employees to appropriate medical assistance through AI.

Cedars-Sinai, a nonprofit healthcare organization, is also working to enhance AI within its practices by creating a new division called Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (AIM). The division will focus on clinical care for cardiac imaging, sudden cardiac arrest, and more, and will explore the various benefits AI can provide.

Collaborations involving AI have also attempted to promote care for mental health conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease. For example, the University of Pennsylvania brought together various schools, including their school of nursing and the Perelman School of Medicine, to create the Penn Artificial Intelligence and Technology Collaboratory for Healthy Aging (PennAITech). This collaborative intends to discover at-home care methods for Alzheimer's disease through AI.