Human Bytes has entered a strategic partnership with UK based Skin Analytics to bring the world’s only autonomous AI for assessment and triage of suspected skin cancer to the Nordic countries. The solution offers instant triage of suspected cancer at point of care, enabling reduced waiting times or fast referral to a specialist.
Addressing a Growing Challenge in Healthcare
Every year more than 150,000 people are diagnosed with skin cancer across the Nordic countries, including 30,000 in Denmark. About 20,000 are diagnosed with the more aggressive malignant melanoma, with need for an urgent referral pathway.
Dermatologists are a scarce specialized resource, where waiting time can be up to a year for a simple skin lesion examination. Today, a significant number of referrals sent to specialist teams are later assessed as benign. These cases create significant additional workload for dermatologists, leading to long waiting times and the potential for unnecessary biopsies.
Proven Technology with Real-World Impact
Neil Daly, CEO of Skin Analytics, said: “DERM was developed to address a global challenge in dermatology. Referral numbers are growing rapidly but the workforce needed to diagnose and treat these cases is growing at a much slower pace – increasing the time patients wait for a diagnosis and the potential for delayed diagnoses or missed cancers.
“Since we launched in the UK, we’ve helped NHS partners address this challenge – freeing up capacity and helping detect cancer earlier. This partnership with Human Bytes will help unlock the capacity-releasing benefits of autonomous AI pathways for providers across the Nordic region.”
Deep Ensemble for the Recognition of Malignancy (DERM) is a Class III CE-marked AI as a Medical Device (AIaMD) that assesses dermoscopic images of skin lesions for skin cancer. It has been used routinely in the UK NHS since 2020, with more than 220,000 patients assessed via DERM pathways – demonstrating impressive results in workload reduction and early detection of cancer
Data shows that about 50% of all skin cancer examinations done at the point of care can be automatically ruled out as harmless (benign) by DERM alone, with no medical doctor needing to review the images. At the same time DERM can label potential specific skin cancer conditions for a fast referral to a dermatologist or immediate treatment in the local GP clinic.
“We are proud to be able to offer this world leading AI to the Nordic healthcare system. The regulatory approval for autonomous use gives potential for significant reduction in the workload and waiting lists, while offering an instant and unmatched diagnostics accuracy.” Says, Ulrik Therkildsen CEO at Human Bytes, and continues “We are impressed about their clinical safety procedures and post-market surveillance which ensures diagnostics accuracy beyond current standard of care for AI applications and market leading patient safety”.
About Human Bytes
Human Bytes ApS, based in Copenhagen, is committed to integrating artificial intelligence and advanced clinical software into the Nordic healthcare sector. By partnering with leading AI developers, Human Bytes aims to unlock AI’s full socio-economic potential in healthcare. Read more at: www.humanbytes.ai