Catching Cancer Early

The five-year survival rate of pancreatic cancer is just 13%, largely because it’s often not detected until it’s too late. That’s why at Northwell Health, New York’s largest health care system, hospitals use the AI-powered iNav (developed in-house) to proactively analyze images of patients’ MRIs and CT scans—taken for unrelated health issues—searching for evidence of cancerous masses or lesions. Northwell says the system has slashed time to treatment, the period from diagnosis to the beginning of addressing the disease, by 50%. Dr. Daniel King, a developer of iNav, says it has “totally revolutionized our ability to get these people connected to care.” Northwell is currently exploring licensing iNav to other hospitals.