Were you unable to attend Transform 2022? Check out all of the summit sessions in our on-demand library now! Investments in AI-enabled healthcare have exploded over the past few years. But even with belt-tightening in 2022, digital health startups using artificial intelligence (AI) have received a whopping $3 billion in funding. That has left plenty of room for startup AI companies to make their mark in healthtech, biotech and medtech.

Indica Labs, an industry leader in quantitative digital pathology and image management solutions, and The Industrial Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research in Digital Diagnostics (iCAIRD), announced today an agreement to collaborate on the development of an AI-based digital pathology solution for the detection of cancer within lymph nodes from colorectal surgery cases. The primary aim of the innovative research project is to develop a tool which in the future may improve the efficiency of pathology teams within the National Health Service Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) reporting colorectal cancer cases and the detection of metastatic cancer in lymph nodes. Funded by a combination of Innovate UK and industrial partners, and based in Scotland, and supported by the West of Scotland Innovation Hub, iCAIRD is one of the largest healthcare AI research portfolios in the UK. A collaboration of 30 partners from across the NHS, industry, academia and technology, the program is currently delivering 35 ground-breaking AI projects across radiology and pathology, having grown from just 10 projects at the outset in 2019. The mission of iCAIRD is to establish a world-class center of excellence for implementation of artificial intelligence in digital diagnostics.

Were you unable to attend Transform 2022? Check out all of the summit sessions in our on-demand library now! In 2018, Iowa-based Digital Diagnostics made headlines when it became the first autonomous AI (artificial intelligence) system authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It received FDA approval to use AI to autonomously detect diabetic retinopathy in adults with diabetes, without the need for input from a doctor. Its AI-diagnostic system, the IDx-DR, can be used to identify diabetic retinopathy – one of the leading causes of blindness in the U.S. and other developed countries – as well as other serious eye diseases, including macular edema.

Interos, the leading AI technology company solving the most challenging supply chain problems worldwide, is accelerating its market leadership as the premier operational resilience authority by announcing the addition of Aida Sukys as Chief Financial Officer. Digital Diagnostics, a leading artificial intelligence diagnostic health care technology company, announced that it has successfully closed a $75 million Series B funding round. This brings the company's total amount raised to more than $130 million. Global investment firm KKR led the round, with participation from new and existing investors, including Cedar Pine, Kinderhook, 8VC, Optum Ventures, OSF Ventures, Gundersen Health System, Edward – Elmhurst Health Venture Capital, and the University of Iowa. Digital Diagnostics will use the funding to accelerate its product roadmap, expand its distribution footprint, and invest in sales and marketing.

Some artificial intelligence breakthroughs happen in computer science labs or tense televised board games between a person and a machine. The latest advance in medical AI has less glamorous origins: the depths of US government bureaucracy. The US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently said it would pay for use of two AI systems: one that can diagnose a complication of diabetes that causes blindness, and another that alerts a specialist when a brain scan suggests a patient has suffered a stroke. The decisions are notable for more than just Medicare and Medicaid patients--they could help drive much wider use of AI in health care. Both products are already cleared by the Food and Drug Administration and are in use by some providers. But new devices and treatments generally aren't widely used until the US government authorizes payments for Medicare and Medicaid patients.

The current COVID-19 public health crisis has converged with the racial and socioeconomic injustices that plague our society, highlighting vast differences in health care access. Though the U.S. spends more on health care than any other developed nation, access to critical preventive care remains particularly challenging for many racial and ethnic minority populations, as well as lower-income and rural Americans. For many, visits to a specialist for a routine diagnostic exam represent a time-consuming and costly venture. As a result, many serious conditions go undiagnosed until they are advanced when treatment becomes more expensive and invasive, and outcomes are less favorable. In 2019 a record number of U.S. adults (33 percent) said they put off receiving medical care due to cost, according to Gallup's annual Health and Healthcare poll.