From left: Donal O’Shea, CEO of Deciphex; and Mairin Rafferty, COO of Deciphex. Image: Nick Bradshaw
The company first launched its virtual pathology service at the end of 2021. It has been used by international healthcare providers including the UK’s NHS.
Irish pathology and AI start-up Deciphex has launched its virtual pathology service in the US.
The company’s platform, Diagnexia, provides on-demand access to remote experts for pathology consulting services. Deciphex said this provides support to understaffed pathology departments that don’t have experts available on every sub-speciality.
The platform connects laboratories to an international network of sub-speciality pathologists, who can provide their expertise on clinical cases to reduce turnaround times and improve patient care.
Deciphex said that the demand remains high worldwide for pathologists, but their numbers are expected to decrease significantly over the next decade. Eligible retiring pathologists are able to join the Diagnexia network and work remotely part-time.
Deciphex first launched the virtual pathology service at the end of 2021. It has been used since by international healthcare providers including the UK’s NHS.
In May, the Dublin-based company closed an $11.5m Series B funding round to bring Diagnexia to the US and expand further in the UK, Canada and the Middle East.
“The US launch of Diagnexia is an important milestone for the business in its ambition to use digital pathology and AI to provide easy access to the world’s leading pathologists,” Deciphex CEO Donal O’Shea said.
“Chronic issues in pathology such as burgeoning patient wait times, recruitment, demand for expertise and diagnostic complexity has necessitated a new approach to improving patient care.”
Deciphex was founded in 2017. As well as Diagnexia, it has developed a digital pathology workflow and integrated AI platform for research pathology.
The start-up’s expansion plans follow an investment boost in 2020, when it secured $6.2m in a Series A round backed by Enterprise Ireland as well as a number of Irish and US investors working in the fields of life sciences and diagnostics.
“Even well-resourced healthcare systems with relatively high pathologist density have a chronic lack of capacity, leading to backlogs, delayed diagnosis, care and patient outcomes,” O’Shea said.
“The ability to alleviate these difficulties with seamless, state-of-the-art technology is game changing and ultimately of huge benefit to patients, health services and pathology labs.”
10 things you need to know direct to your inbox every weekday. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of essential sci-tech news.
