Blackford and Lucida Medical Partner to Enhance Prostate Care
Edinburgh, Scotland (April 17, 2024) - Blackford, the pioneering strategic AI platform and solutions provider, and Lucida Medical, a leading developer of AI for cancer imaging, today announced a commercial partnership to bring the Pi - Prostate Intelligence solution to healthcare professionals via the Blackford Platform.
Blackford provides healthcare professionals access to an extensive portfolio of more than 120 AI solutions designed to drive clinical accuracy and efficiency and improve patient outcomes. By integrating Lucida Medical’s advanced technology into the Blackford Platform, Blackford can offer healthcare providers more powerful tools to support analysis of prostate MRIs.
“Our partnership with Lucida Medical enhances our ability to provide healthcare professionals with AI to help deliver more precise and efficient prostate cancer diagnosis and care.” says Ben Panter, Founder and CEO of Blackford. “We are delighted to integrate the Pi solution into our extensive AI portfolio aimed at empowering clinicians with the tools they need to make informed decisions, ultimately improving patient outcomes.”
Prostate cancer is the most common male cancer*, with case numbers forecast to double by 2040** and up to 50% of cases currently being diagnosed late, at stages III-IV***. Pi has been designed to help healthcare professionals work more quickly by automating laborious steps, and to increase accuracy for detection of clinically significant prostate cancer.
Dr Antony Rix, Co-Founder and CEO at Lucida Medical, says “Recent research has shown that Pi has expert-level performance in real-world applications across multiple healthcare settings, scanner types and vendors. We are delighted to work with Blackford to offer Pi to hospitals across the UK and Europe to help clinical teams save time and offer their patients the best possible diagnosis and treatment for prostate cancer.”
References
* World Health Organization: Cancer Today, https://gco.iarc.fr/today/en/dataviz/tables?mode=cancer&populations=826&multiple_populations=1&group_populations=1&sexes=1 (accessed March 2024)
** Lancet Commission on prostate cancer: planning for the surge in cases, https://www.thelancet.com/commissions/prostate-cancer (accessed April 2024)
*** National Prostate Cancer Audit, https://www.npca.org.uk/content/uploads/2023/01/NPCA-Annual-Report-2022_12.01.23.pdf (accessed March 2024)
About Blackford
Blackford are pioneers in the radiology AI space, with over a decade of experience working in partnership with leading hospitals and ground-breaking technology providers. We operate as a strategic AI partner, providing access to a tried-and-tested core platform, tailored services, and a portfolio of 120+ applications to help healthcare providers unlock the value of AI and improve patient outcomes.
Our collaboration and recent arms-length acquisition by Bayer ensures that our customers and partners have the support and long-term security needed to underpin successful AI strategies.
To learn more about Blackford’s tailored approach to AI solutions visit www.blackfordanalysis.com, and follow us on X and LinkedIn.
About Lucida Medical
Lucida Medical develops AI-based technology to assist clinicians to find cancer more accurately, diagnose and treat it more effectively, and save time. Lucida Medical was founded in 2019 by Dr. Antony Rix, an expert in medical devices, machine learning and AI, and Prof. Evis Sala, who at the time was Professor of Oncological Imaging at the University of Cambridge & Addenbrooke’s Hospital, and who is now Chair of Radiology at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and Director of the Advanced Radiology Centre at the Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, IRCCS in Rome. Prostate Intelligence (Pi) is intended for use to assist the diagnosis of prostate cancer, and is the company’s first product to complete regulatory approvals.
Lucida Medical is backed by investors including XTX Ventures, Macmillan Cancer Support, Prostate Cancer Research, and leading radiologists and urologists. The company is now building partnerships with hospitals and leading vendors to make Pi available across Europe.
X: @LucidaMedical | LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/lucida-medical