aster.cloud aster.cloud
  • /
  • Platforms
    • Public Cloud
    • On-Premise
    • Hybrid Cloud
    • Data
  • Architecture
    • Design
    • Solutions
    • Enterprise
  • Engineering
    • Automation
    • Software Engineering
    • Project Management
    • DevOps
  • Programming
    • Learning
  • Tools
  • About
  • /
  • Platforms
    • Public Cloud
    • On-Premise
    • Hybrid Cloud
    • Data
  • Architecture
    • Design
    • Solutions
    • Enterprise
  • Engineering
    • Automation
    • Software Engineering
    • Project Management
    • DevOps
  • Programming
    • Learning
  • Tools
  • About
aster.cloud aster.cloud
  • /
  • Platforms
    • Public Cloud
    • On-Premise
    • Hybrid Cloud
    • Data
  • Architecture
    • Design
    • Solutions
    • Enterprise
  • Engineering
    • Automation
    • Software Engineering
    • Project Management
    • DevOps
  • Programming
    • Learning
  • Tools
  • About
  • Solutions
  • Technology

Pathology Digitization And The Fight Against Cancer

  • aster.cloud
  • January 16, 2023
  • 4 minute read
Everyone who has experienced a loved one’s cancer diagnosis knows how important it is to help patients get the best treatment, faster. Cancer is a leading cause of death, killing nearly 10 million people globally each year. But if caught early, and treated appropriately, many people can recover. We’re proud to have worked in this area for many years, applying our technology and tools to fight cancer, in partnership with leading public and private sector organizations.
In 2018, we published a peer-reviewed paper in the Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine about how we applied deep learning to improve breast cancer diagnostic accuracy, based on gigapixel-sized pathology slides of lymph nodes from de-identified patients. In 2019, we published a paper in Nature Medicine about using advances in 3D volumetric modeling and artificial intelligence (AI) to better predict lung cancer. And, in 2021, we announced a new clinical research study exploring whether AI models can reduce the time to diagnosis for breast cancer patients, narrowing the assessment gap and improving the patient experience.This is hard, important work, and due to the complexity and diversity of cancer, building accurate AI models requires large, diverse, and high-quality datasets, such as images of de-identified pathology slides. Digitized pathology slides can play a critical role in building machine learning (ML) and AI models, making it possible for researchers to test and compare the power of different diagnostic approaches. More importantly, they allow researchers to build models that reflect diverse patient populations and include multiple types of cancer.

Google’s work on government pathology datasets

We’re honored to have partnered with Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD), Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, and U.S. Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Guam (U.S. NMRTC Guam) to manually clean, catalog, and scan pathology slides, effectively digitizing them to make them more helpful in supporting cancer research. All of this was done through a CRADA, or Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, a common framework for research collaboration between government agencies and companies.


Partner with aster.cloud
for your next big idea.
Let us know here.



From our partners:

CITI.IO :: Business. Institutions. Society. Global Political Economy.
CYBERPOGO.COM :: For the Arts, Sciences, and Technology.
DADAHACKS.COM :: Parenting For The Rest Of Us.
ZEDISTA.COM :: Entertainment. Sports. Culture. Escape.
TAKUMAKU.COM :: For The Hearth And Home.
ASTER.CLOUD :: From The Cloud And Beyond.
LIWAIWAI.COM :: Intelligence, Inside and Outside.
GLOBALCLOUDPLATFORMS.COM :: For The World's Computing Needs.
FIREGULAMAN.COM :: For The Fire In The Belly Of The Coder.
ASTERCASTER.COM :: Supra Astra. Beyond The Stars.
BARTDAY.COM :: Prosperity For Everyone.

Read More  Can Email Still Delight Us? An Interview With Gmail’s Product Lead

Google paid for digitizing these slides and making them available for research, and the CRADA for NMCSD (and other Department of Defense facilities) provided the government joint ownership of any inventions made collaboratively. Once the data was digitized, NMCSD had the option of paying cloud storage fees to Google (or any other cloud provider). In other words, the government and the research community at large were (and still are) the primary beneficiaries of this critical effort.

It’s also important to note that all of our work with NMCSD—and any project involving data in our cloud—is subject to strict controls to maintain patient privacy and security. We work with de-identified patient data and use strong encryption. Our customers own their data, and we cannot, and do not, use it for any purpose other than explicitly agreed upon by them. (These principles are outlined in our Privacy Resource Center.)

Google’s involvement with the Joint Pathology Center biorepository

Established in 1862, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) has amassed the world’s largest collection of human pathologic specimens. Samples from the AFIP were instrumental in solving many public health challenges, like sequencing the genome of the 1918 influenza virus. In 2005, AFIP’s biorepository was transferred to the newly created Joint Pathology Center (JPC). During the transition, the DoD asked the U.S. Institute of Medicine (now called the National Academy of Medicine) to provide advice on operating the biorepository. The resulting study recommended digitizing the archives immediately to ensure that the repository did not continue to degrade and could be made accessible to researchers for years to come.

Read More  THUNDEROBOT Debuts at CES 2025 to Unleash the Infinite Potential of Esports Gear by Powerful Esports Momentum

In March 2020, the Defense Innovation Board, a group of industry experts that serves the Secretary of Defense, wrote a report outlining the urgency of creating a fully digitized repository of slides for the JPC and making recommendations on how to achieve this goal. Two other organizations—the DoD Joint AI Center and the Defense Innovation Unit—then released a solicitation seeking industry help. They canvassed the country, using an open buying process, to identify and contract with vendors who could build algorithms and digitize slides. Google was ultimately selected to develop algorithms to detect four types of cancer and digitize at scale, using the proven techniques we had developed previously with NMCSD and NMRTC Guam.

The JPC, however, pursued its own process. This started with the organization putting forth an open call to vendors who could assist the digitization. But then, in August 2020, JPC went forward with a non-competitive, non-publicly-sourced contract. We’re obviously disappointed we weren’t given the opportunity to compete for this important project, but we continue to this day to offer our help and collaboration for this and other digitization initiatives.

Helping billions of people live healthier lives

We remain optimistic that if the repository can be digitized and leveraged to its full potential—and used by researchers and clinicians—it would advance diagnosis and treatment for thousands of illnesses (including cancer), saving American lives, such as those of our service members. And, if digitized quickly and effectively, the repository would be a highly effective use of taxpayer dollars, providing enormous downstream benefits for the U.S. healthcare system. We stand ready to assist.

Read More  Qualcomm Expands 5G Capabilities To Mobile Devices Powered By New Snapdragon 480 5G Mobile Platform, A First In The Snapdragon 4-Series

Google supports a number of projects designed to help people live healthier lives. We are proud of the work we have done in partnership with many public and private organizations, to democratize access to early diagnostics and treatments for service members, their families, and communities around the world.

 

By: Dr. Karen DeSalvo (Chief Health Officer, Google)
Source: Google Cloud Blog


For enquiries, product placements, sponsorships, and collaborations, connect with us at [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you!

Our humans need coffee too! Your support is highly appreciated, thank you!

aster.cloud

Related Topics
  • Google Cloud
  • Healthcare
  • Joint Pathology Center
  • Public Sector
You May Also Like
View Post
  • Computing
  • Multi-Cloud
  • Technology

Pure Accelerate 2025: All the news and updates live from Las Vegas

  • June 18, 2025
View Post
  • Computing
  • Multi-Cloud
  • Technology

‘This was a very purposeful strategy’: Pure Storage unveils Enterprise Data Cloud in bid to unify data storage, management

  • June 18, 2025
View Post
  • Computing
  • Multi-Cloud
  • Technology

What is cloud bursting?

  • June 18, 2025
View Post
  • Computing
  • Multi-Cloud
  • Technology

There’s a ‘cloud reset’ underway, and VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 is a chance for Broadcom to pounce on it

  • June 17, 2025
View Post
  • Computing
  • Multi-Cloud
  • Technology

What is confidential computing?

  • June 17, 2025
View Post
  • Computing
  • Multi-Cloud
  • Technology

Oracle adds xAI Grok models to OCI

  • June 17, 2025
View Post
  • Computing
  • Multi-Cloud
  • Technology

Fine-tune your storage-as-a-service approach

  • June 16, 2025
View Post
  • Technology

Advanced audio dialog and generation with Gemini 2.5

  • June 15, 2025

Stay Connected!
LATEST
  • 1
    Pure Accelerate 2025: All the news and updates live from Las Vegas
    • June 18, 2025
  • 2
    ‘This was a very purposeful strategy’: Pure Storage unveils Enterprise Data Cloud in bid to unify data storage, management
    • June 18, 2025
  • What is cloud bursting?
    • June 18, 2025
  • 4
    There’s a ‘cloud reset’ underway, and VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 is a chance for Broadcom to pounce on it
    • June 17, 2025
  • What is confidential computing?
    • June 17, 2025
  • Oracle adds xAI Grok models to OCI
    • June 17, 2025
  • Fine-tune your storage-as-a-service approach
    • June 16, 2025
  • 8
    Advanced audio dialog and generation with Gemini 2.5
    • June 15, 2025
  • 9
    A Father’s Day Gift for Every Pop and Papa
    • June 13, 2025
  • 10
    Global cloud spending might be booming, but AWS is trailing Microsoft and Google
    • June 13, 2025
about
Hello World!

We are aster.cloud. We’re created by programmers for programmers.

Our site aims to provide guides, programming tips, reviews, and interesting materials for tech people and those who want to learn in general.

We would like to hear from you.

If you have any feedback, enquiries, or sponsorship request, kindly reach out to us at:

[email protected]
Most Popular
  • Google Cloud, Cloudflare struck by widespread outages
    • June 12, 2025
  • What is PC as a service (PCaaS)?
    • June 12, 2025
  • 3
    Crayon targets mid-market gains with expanded Google Cloud partnership
    • June 10, 2025
  • By the numbers: Use AI to fill the IT skills gap
    • June 11, 2025
  • 5
    Apple services deliver powerful features and intelligent updates to users this autumn
    • June 11, 2025
  • /
  • Technology
  • Tools
  • About
  • Contact Us

Input your search keywords and press Enter.