Bioclinica, an integrated solutions provider of clinical life science and technology expertise, delivering powerful insight into clinical trial development in bringing new therapies to people worldwide, today announced a strategic partnership with Daniel Mishkin, MD, and GI Reviewers, LLC to develop technology for the interpretation and analysis of colonoscopy videos in clinical trials of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) including ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease.
The partnership includes Bioclinca’s acquisition of existing technology and intellectual property (IP) developed by GI Reviewers as well as a development collaboration to further extend the technology using machine learning/deep learning methods.
Clinical trials in IBD use colonoscopy examinations to identify the target patient population as well as to evaluate treatment efficacy. Many trials have been successfully completed using central reading of colonoscopy videos to more reliably assess study endpoints. Nevertheless, the variability of central reading can be high even when performed by expert readers.
“Based on our initial investigation, we believe computer automation has a high potential of improving the reliability of central interpretation of colonoscopy videos in UC and Crohn’s disease trials,” said Bioclinica’s Chief Science Officer, Thomas Fuerst, PhD. “This can be done by both assisting expert readers with an enhanced reading environment as well as through automated computer-based assessments of disease severity that are objective and repeatable.”
The exploding application of machine learning in medical imaging is transforming its use in both the clinical and research settings. Particularly in clinical trials, computer-based analysis and interpretation of images can greatly improve the accuracy and reproducibility of imaging endpoints used to assess treatment outcomes. Bioclinica’s Chairman and CEO, Euan Menzies, said, “At Bioclinica we are making a large investment in the application of machine learning methods to the challenges facing our customers in the clinical trial arena. I am excited by the opportunities created by combining our imaging and technical expertise with subject matter experts like Dr. Mishkin and forward-thinking clients looking to bring novel methods to their research programs.”
Bioclinica and GI Reviewers have collaborated to provide high quality central reading in IBD trials since 2012. “Given our common interest in improving IBD trials and ultimately helping patients, in addition to our long and successful collaboration, Bioclinica is the perfect partner to advance this research,” said Dr. Mishkin, CEO of GI Reviewers. Bioclinica will continue to partner with GI Reviewers and their team of accomplished gastroenterologists for central reading services in clinical trials.
