Intel and startup HY to develop AI system for breast cancer diagnosis, treatment

Tech giant Intel Corp and healthcare tech startup HY jointly announced on Friday that they would deepen their partnership to further develop an artificial intelligence system that will help with breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.

The companies made the announcement during a charity event to raise breast cancer awareness held Friday evening, as October is the breast cancer awareness month worldwide.

Breast cancer is one of the top disease killers in China, as the country has seen a surge in breast cancer incidence and mortality in recent years. About 43 females per 100,000 suffer from the deadly disease, according to data from the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association.

The system, using big data and machine learning technologies, is backed by Intel's Central Processor Unit (CPU) product to reduce cost and increase efficiency, and has been able to read medical images and deliver results with an accuracy of about 90 to 95 percent, according to Guo Na, chief operation officer and joint founder of HY.

In the future, the system will be able to help doctors make treatment plans for breast cancer with precisive medicine approach, according to Guo.

Liang Yali, general manager for China with industry solution department of Intel's marketing group, said Intel wants to make people's life better with technology innovation, and the company attaches great importance to providing technology solutions to healthcare sector.

As the pink ribbon lapel pin has become a powerful symbol to increase awareness about breast cancer worldwide, Intel changed its logo color from blue to pink, the two companies made the announcement.