Microsoft is using its AI power to speed up detection of cervical cancer in India

One year after Microsoft teamed up with SRL Diagnostics -- India's largest diagnostics services provider for pathology and radiology -- the duo announced that their codeveloped AI-enabled tool for detecting cervical cancer can accurately spot abnormalities in cervical sample images, TechCrunch reports. The AI model powered by Microsoft's Azure can quickly scan for early stage cancer and deliver insights to pathologists -- and it is now going through a process of validation. Cervical cancer claims the lives of about 270,000 patients annually, and 25% of cases can be traced to India. Because cervical cancer is such a prevalent issue in the region -- and pathologists have to contend with sorting through a high number of samples -- SRL Diagnostics sought to streamline the process of mining through the 100,000 cervical Pap smear samples its pathologists receive each year. It makes sense for developers of AI tools to eye India's overburdened healthcare system, as it's ripe for digital health disruption: Microsoft's partnership with SRL demonstrates how big tech can fill in data gaps holding hospitals back from fully leveraging AI for medical diagnostics. Over half of US health system execs think that AI for imaging or diagnostics will be high impact by 2024: AI can diagnose conditions up to 100 times faster in some cases, and AI-generated healthcare savings could eclipse $150 billion by 2025 -- but there still exist a plethora of issues barring health systems from effectively implementing AI strategies.