Renowned Silicon Valley venture capitalist, entrepreneur, and former Facebook executive, Chamath Palihapitiya, sat down with popular national podcaster, Joe Rogan, yesterday afternoon to talk about various topics, including examples of AI’s growing impact on improving healthcare.
One of the prime examples he used was Perimeter Medical Imaging AI’s (TSXV: PINK; OTCQX: PYNKF) Claire—the first AI-enabled imaging device approved in the U.S. for intraoperative breast cancer margin assessment. The technology, which received FDA pre-market approval (PMA) in March, is designed to enhance surgeons’ ability to detect difficult-to-see cancer during breast-conserving surgery and potentially reduce the need for re-operations.
Claire combines Perimeter’s proprietary AI with its patented wide-field OCT imaging to enable high-resolution, real-time evaluation of excised tumor margins. The system delivers 10 times higher resolution than standard X-ray and ultrasound at 2 mm imaging depth—the clinically relevant margin width for breast cancer margin assessment.
A critical innovation behind Claire is its AI engine, trained on millions of proprietary OCT images of cancerous and healthy tissue. This image library can only be generated using Perimeter’s patented OCT imaging engine and represents a unique advantage, as every surgical procedure performed with Claire generates new data that can be used to improve the AI product, helping to create better outcomes for future patients. This use of AI is what makes Claire one of the few AI-enabled class III devices on the U.S. market today. A pre-determined change control plan (PCCP) was authorized as part of the PMA approval and includes planned AI enhancements that can be implemented without additional FDA interaction.
At the time Claire received FDA PMA approval, Mr. Palihapitiya said in a statement, “I’ve been a major investor in Perimeter for several years, and it’s been the incredible clinical and commercial potential of Claire that has driven my excitement all along. After rigorous development, clinical and regulatory engagement, and collaboration with the medical community, I believe Perimeter is at the starting line of something truly transformational.”
Mr. Palihapitiya continued, “Claire delivers greater peace of mind. Both for the surgeon who currently faces nearly one-in-five odds of needing to perform repeat surgery due to positive margins, and for the breast cancer patient, who, under the current paradigm, typically has to wait and worry for up to 10 days to learn whether an additional surgery is required. A second surgery is an emotional and physical journey that we are trying to prevent. This is exactly the kind of AI-driven innovation that can improve the standard of care by delivering measurable, real-world medical impacts. I’m excited to see what Perimeter can accomplish, as it commercializes the first AI-enabled imaging device for breast cancer surgery.”
The full episode of The Joe Rogan Experience featuring Chamath Palihapitiya is available to view here.
