Tempus, a technology company leading the adoption of AI to advance precision medicine, highlighted results of the Articulate Pro study, published in Nature Digital Medicine, evaluating the use of AI to assist pathologists in prostate biopsy reporting.
The study was a real-world evaluation of the Paige Prostate Suite, an integral part of the Tempus intelligent diagnostics ecosystem, and its integration into routine clinical workflows. AI-assisted review supported pathologists in re-assessing and updating the initial diagnosis or Grade Group for 5 per cent of patients. Notably, 1.3 per cent of these changes were significant enough to potentially alter the patient's clinical management.
The study, led by Professor Clare Verrill at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, examined how using the Paige Prostate Suite impacted pathologists’ clinical decision-making, pathology service delivery and use of resources across three prominent UK National Health Service (NHS) trusts: Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, North Bristol NHS Trust and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust. Biopsies from more than 1,000 patients were assessed in real time by expert histopathologists assisted by the AI suite.
Key impacts on clinical decision-making and laboratory efficiency included:
Enhanced Diagnostic Precision: The AI technology deployed within NHS IT infrastructure successfully flagged subtle, difficult-to-spot cancerous lesions and prompted pathologists to make appropriate changes to tumor aggressiveness grading. In several cases, this helped optimize the clinical management options offered to patients.
Accelerated Turnaround Times: Laboratories using the technology reported quicker diagnostic turnaround times, meaning patients could potentially receive their results nearly a day sooner than standard workflows allow.
Optimized Resource Allocation: The integration of the Paige Prostate Suite demonstrated a notable reduction in requests for extra immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining. This efficiency could provide overstretched digital pathology labs with workflow relief and cost savings.
"The rigorous, real-world results in the Articulate Pro study are a massive step forward for the global adoption of digital pathology," said Razik Yousfi, Senior Vice President and General Manager of AI Products at Tempus. "Integration of the Paige Prostate Suite directly into routine workflows shows that AI doesn't just work in a sandbox; it can actively alleviate the immense pressure on overstretched laboratories, cut down reporting times and give pathologists an extra layer of confidence when making critical diagnostic decisions."
