FUJIFILM Healthcare Europe, the global leader in Digital Pathology software1 and Ibex Medical Analytics (Ibex), a leader in AI-powered cancer diagnostics in Pathology, are delighted to announce a formal partnership to support efficient and accurate cancer diagnosis. Integrating Ibex’s AI platform with Fujifilm’s SYNAPSE® Pathology solution is expected to allow users across the world to optimise laboratory workflows and reduce turnaround times. 
 
The aim of this new partnership is to help address the pressure Pathologists face with the global shortage of experts2, as well as the growing number of cancer patients3 and turnaround times expected on healthcare practitioners. FUJIFILM Healthcare Europe and Ibex jointly provide interoperability of our solutions, with the aim to enhance the diagnostic workflows alleviating some of these pressures. 
 
Pathologists play a crucial role in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Over 35 million new cancer cases are predicted in 2050, a 77% increase from the estimated 20 million cases in 20224. With the demand for Pathology services continuing to rise, in contrast, the number of Pathologists is at an all-time low. Cancer Research UK forecast a 5% increase in Histology slides per annum, with a 47% workforce increase required to meet the predicted Histology workload in 20295 in the UK alone. This was the highest requirement of the seven cancer supporting professions investigated. 
  
Ibex’s AI solutions have shown to improve reporting efficiency and drive productivity by up to 37%6. The SYNAPSE® Pathology solution has been proven to deliver digital images for diagnosis 1.7 hours faster than glass slides7, while increasing collaboration and communication. The SYNAPSE® Pathology solution has an open-platform, vendor-neutral approach to support Pathology services with an efficient, robust and cost-effective proposition. When AI is added to Pathology digital solutions, turnaround times for Prostate cancer diagnosis can be reduced from 1.8 days to 9.4 minutes when compared to the standard of care using a microscope8.  
Launching first at UK reference site, North Bristol NHS Trust and rolling out across the further UK customers, this partnership will allow laboratories to benefit from the portfolio of Ibex AI-powered tools for prostate, breast and gastric cancer diagnostics. 

Dr Nirav Gandhi, AI advocate within Histopathology and one of Fujifilm’s customers had this to say on the new partnership and the impact that AI can make into the profession: 
 

Ibex’s AI-powered solutions detect cancer and more than a hundred other diagnostic features in multiple tissue types, offering clinically proven accuracy, enhanced efficiency and an improved user experience. Their solutions have been developed from rich datasets from multiple Pathology institutes, with multiple AI algorithms trained by teams of expert Pathologists using deep learning technologies. 
 
Fujifilm customers utilising the SYNAPSE® Pathology solution in conjunction with Ibex AI can now expect to benefit from reduced error rates, increased operational efficiency, increased diagnostic accuracy, reduced turnaround times and improved user experience. This is achieved from streamlined image analysis, remote collaboration, and faster diagnosis, enabling new opportunities for research and clinical collaboration. 
 
While the adoption of Digital Pathology for primary diagnosis is estimated to be less than 10% in the US9 and 23% in Europe and Asia10, between this partnership between two global leaders in their respective fields, we hope to drive adoption and implementation of the solution throughout the world.