Geert Litjens receives VIDI grant to build an AI bridge between pathology and radiology

The Dutch Research Council has awarded Geert Litjens a Vidi grant worth 800,000 euros for a project entitled AI-built bridges for prostate cancer patients.

Prostate cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers in men worldwide. MRI is important in early detection and diagnosis. But the multifocality, morphological heterogeneity and strong resemblance to numerous non-malignant conditions make interpretation complex, even for experienced radiologists. The development of automated, reliable detection algorithms has therefore become an important research focus in medical image computing.

The Vidi project builds upon Geert Litjens' PhD research that was focused on prostate MRI and his Veni research on in deep learning analysis of histopathology images of the prostate to prevent unnecessary surgery and adjuvant therapy for prostate cancer patients. This research already led to freely available high performing algorithms for Gleason grading of prostate biopsies. The new research will use both MRI imaging and 3D histopathology with the aim to eventually lead to tools that can reduce unnecessary biopsies and to contribute to better understanding of the development and behavior of the disease.