Avenda Health Expands Unfold AI Into Midwest Cancer Care

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Avenda Health Expands Unfold AI Into Midwest Cancer Care

Avenda Health said the University of Michigan Health Weiser Center for Prostate Cancer has become the first healthcare institution in the Midwest to implement its AI-based prostate cancer mapping technology, extending advanced imaging support into one of the country’s leading urologic oncology programs. The rollout is intended to strengthen treatment planning and clinical decision-making for prostate cancer patients, particularly as cases of advanced disease continue to increase across Michigan. The company stated that one in eight men are expected to receive a prostate cancer diagnosis during their lifetime, while conventional imaging and biopsy methods can still fail to detect or fully define clinically significant disease. The deployment of Unfold AI introduces patient-specific 3D cancer visualization capabilities designed to provide physicians with a more detailed understanding of tumor size, spread and location before treatment decisions are finalized.

The FDA-cleared multimodal platform combines imaging, pathology and other patient data to generate a personalized 3D disease map intended to reveal cancer that may not be fully visible through conventional MRI-based assessments. According to peer-reviewed studies cited by the company, the technology improved physician sensitivity in identifying tumor extent from 37% to 97% and predicted cancer spread into nearby anatomy with 92% accuracy, compared with 52% using MRI alone. “Up to 20% of clinically significant prostate cancer is invisible on standard prostate MRI, and Prostate MRI can significantly underestimate the size of the cancer” said Andrew M. Wood, M.D., urological surgeon at U-M Health, leading the use of Unfold AI at the institution. “Having access to Unfold AI adds a valuable tool to our evaluation and treatment of this disease, allowing for additional precision in tumor ablation procedures and a more personalized treatment paradigm tailored to each patient.”

Shyam Natarajan, PhD, co-founder and CEO of Avenda Health, said the collaboration with University of Michigan Health marked another step in expanding AI-guided prostate cancer care into major cancer centers nationwide. The company also noted that its platform became the first AI urology product to receive a Category III CPT code from the American Medical Association and a national Medicare payment rate for outpatient hospital settings. More recently, the technology was included in Medicare Physician Fee Schedules across the West Coast and Mountain West regions.