HAMMOND, Indiana, and Boston, Massachusetts, Nov. 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Alverno Laboratories, a provider of high-quality diagnostic testing services and one of the largest integrated laboratory networks in the United States, and Ibex Medical Analytics, the leader in artificial intelligence (AI)-powered cancer diagnostics, today announced the launch of the Ibex Breast platform in routine practice within Alverno’s laboratory network in Illinois and Indiana. The launch of the platform is the second in a phased launch that encompasses AI-centric solutions for cancer diagnosis across multiple tissue types, including prostate (live), breast (now live) and gastric (coming soon), aiding pathologists in identifying and grading areas suspicious of cancer. The laboratory system has now completed phase 2 of its launch plan, enabling AI-powered cancer detection for prostate biopsies, breast biopsies and breast excisions, soon to be followed by gastric.
The Ibex platform expands on Alverno’s systemwide implementation of the Phillips IntelliSite Pathology Solution, further expanding on the laboratory system’s advanced diagnostics. Alverno’s pathologists now have additional tools at their disposal to aid in an accurate and quick diagnosis, advancing the level of care to their patients by getting results back into the hands of the clinicians sooner.
“That pain of waiting means you don’t sleep that night, and if it’s another night, you don’t sleep that night,” said Sam Terese, CEO and president of Alverno Laboratories. “It’s speeding up that result into the hands of clinicians and patients, eliminating those sleepless nights and ensuring that it is the highest possible quality result that any lab can deliver. That’s what Alverno has always been about.”
The official launch of both Ibex Prostate and now Ibex Breast means Alverno’s patients can now access the groundbreaking technology closer to home, without the need to travel to Chicago or other areas for advanced cancer diagnostics. “At Alverno Laboratories, every innovative program we introduce is designed with our patients in mind,” Terese emphasized.
Ibex’s suite of solutions supports Alverno pathologists in a variety of tasks during routine review of prostate, breast and gastric biopsies. The solutions help with case prioritization, AI-powered cancer detection and reporting and optimization of immunohistochemistry workflows and other productivity-enhancing tools. This implementation of AI on a large scale across the entire laboratory network has the potential to improve pathologists’ productivity and user experience, reduce operational costs and improve overall service levels. Ibex is the most widely deployed AI technology in pathology and is used as part of everyday clinical practice at laboratories, hospitals and health systems worldwide. Ibex demonstrated outstanding outcomes across multiple clinical studies performed on various tissue types and diagnostic workflows.1,2,3,4,5
“After successfully integrating Ibex Prostate into their clinical workflows, it’s exciting to see Alverno Laboratories expand their use of the Ibex platform with Ibex Breast,” said Joseph Mossel, CEO and co-founder of Ibex Medical Analytics. “Their remarkable team of pathologists continue to show commitment to being at the forefront of innovation and ensuring the highest quality of diagnostics for their patients. We’re honored to partner with the Alverno team and look forward to continuing our strong collaboration.”
For additional information on Alverno Laboratories, please visit alvernolabs.com and LinkedIn. For additional information on Ibex Medical Analytics, please visit ibex-ai.com, LinkedIn and X.
About Alverno Laboratories
Alverno Laboratories, located in Hammond, Indiana, provides clinical and anatomic pathology services and testing to communities throughout Illinois and Indiana. Alverno’s focus is providing the best patient care utilizing advanced technologies such as digital pathology, AI, Precision Medicine/Next-Gen Sequencing and complex automation. As a joint venture between Franciscan Alliance and Ascension Illinois, Alverno Laboratories operates over 30 hospital laboratories and provides laboratory testing to over 2,500 physician offices, free-standing urgent care facilities and research organizations. Innovation is at the center of laboratory operations as demonstrated by the acquisition of one of the largest digital pathology networks in the country. Digital pathology, coupled with artificial intelligence technology, will decrease turnaround times of oncology cases and enhance outcomes. Advanced automation in microbiology rapidly increases the diagnosis of bloodborne infections that can lead to sepsis.
About Ibex Medical Analytics
Ibex Medical Analytics is transforming cancer diagnostics with world-leading clinical grade AI-powered solutions for pathology. Empowering physicians and supporting pathologists, Ibex is on a mission to provide accurate, timely and personalized cancer diagnosis for every patient. Ibex is the first and most widely deployed AI-powered platform in pathology. Pathologists worldwide use Ibex as part of their everyday routine to improve the accuracy of cancer diagnosis, implement comprehensive quality control measures, reduce turnaround times and boost productivity with more efficient workflows.
The Ibex suite includes solutions that are for Research Use Only (RUO) in the United States and not cleared by the FDA. Multiple solutions are CE marked (IVDD and IVDR) and registered with the UK MHRA. For more information, including indication for use and regulatory approval in other countries, contact Ibex Medical Analytics.
[1] Pantanowitz et al., “An Artificial Intelligence Algorithm for Prostate Cancer Diagnosis in Whole Slide Images of Core Needle Biopsies: A Blinded Clinical Validation and Deployment Study,” The Lancet Digital Health (Aug 2020)
[2] Sandbank et al., “Validation and Real-World Clinical Application of an Artificial Intelligence Algorithm for Breast Cancer Detection in Biopsies,” npj Breast Cancer 8, 129 (2022)
[3] Comperat et al., “Clinical Level AI-Based Solution for Primary Diagnosis and Reporting of Prostate Biopsies in Routine Use: A Prospective Reader Study,” European Congress of Pathology (2021)
[4] Raoux et al., “Novel AI-Based Solution for Supporting Primary Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer Increases the Accuracy and Efficiency of Reporting in Clinical Routine,” USCAP (2021)
[5] Sandbank et al., “Validation and Clinical Deployment of an AI-Based Solution for Detection of Gastric Adenocarcinoma and Helicobacter pylori in Gastric Biopsies,” USCAP (2022)
