Kheiron partners with Hospital Services Limited

To bring AI – enabled breast screening solution Mia to breast screen programmes across Ireland

Marking a new milestone for artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in the breast screening community across the Island of Ireland, United Kingdom-based Kheiron Medical Technologies has engaged with Hospital Services Limited (HSL) to bring the Mia® solution to the Health Services in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. As the first and only solution of its kind with CE regulatory clearance for use as an AI-enabled independent reader for the early detection of breast cancer, Mia is being launched in partnership with specialist medical supplies distributor HSL, an Island-of-Ireland based company focused on bringing market-leading healthcare technology products and solutions to public and private hospitals in the UK and Ireland.

“Our mission at Kheiron is to support breast screening professionals in the fight against breast cancer with proven and effective AI-enabled tools,” states Alex Hamlow, Kheiron’s Chief Commercial Officer.  “We’re excited that Mia is the first AI independent reader solution available for use within the breast screening community across the Island of Ireland.  Based on its performance in the UK and Europe, Mia represents a major breakthrough in helping radiologists to dramatically improve breast cancer detection and patient outcomes.”

“According to Breast Cancer Ireland, 690 deaths are attributed to breast cancer annually in the Republic of Ireland and 3,700 women in Ireland are diagnosed every year with breast cancer. In our meetings with radiologists and breast screening programme leaders across Ireland, we’ve had the opportunity to discuss how AI and Mia can help both radiologists and the women they care for,” Mr Hamlow continued.

With patented AI technology developed on more than three million breast images, Mia (Mammography Intelligent Assessment) is designed to support breast radiologists in deciding whether to recall women for further testing based on their mammography screening.  It was created to deliver gold standard double-reading quality with a single human reader and can also function as an independent second reader, a concurrent reader, or in double reader triage. 

“We are looking forward to bringing the Mia solution to the breast screening community throughout Ireland,” comments Dominic Walsh, HSL’s Chief Executive Officer. “It has tremendous potential to transform the breast screening pathway by empowering breast screening professionals to detect potential malignancies more accurately and quickly, ultimately saving more lives in the fight against breast cancer.”

Mia’s effectiveness has been proven in one of the most ambitious clinical studies in radiology AI to date, which evaluated Mia as an independent reader of mammograms and as a triaging solution. This ground-breaking study tested Mia across more than 275,000 cases from seven sites in the UK and Hungary. In addition, Kheiron was one of the recipients of the UK Government’s first AI in Health and Care Awards through which Mia is undergoing multiple deployments and clinical studies across 15 sites as a benchmark for how to integrate new, cutting-edge technologies into the NHS safely and effectively.