Hemmel Amrania, PhD | Imperial College; Carlo Palmieri, PhD, FRCP; Chris Phillips, PhD, FInstP; Darius S. Francescatti, MD; Sabrina Ali, Bsc; Nicholas Wright, PhD, FMedSci
Competition Sponsor: EIT Health of the European Union
Awardee Year: 2024
Digistain is transforming the landscape of cancer diagnostics, specifically in guiding adjuvant chemotherapy decisions. Developed through 15 years of R&D, Digistain’s technology was conceived by CEO Dr Hemmel Amrania during his PhD at Imperial College London, where he pioneered a method to directly measure chromosomal instability—a well-established biomarker of all solid tumours, underpinning their growth.
Digistain generates a unique spectral fingerprint from biopsy samples, analysing the subtle biochemical changes of over 10,000 data points associated with chromosomal instability. This data is then processed by Digistain’s proprietary AI-powered machine learning algorithm to measure eleveated levels of tumour DNA to predict the proliferation risk of sample cancer cells. It provides vital risk stratification, and guidance for chemotherapy decisions. Current breast cancer risk stratification methods rely on genomic testing, which is both costly and time-consuming, limiting accessibility for many patients. Digistain, however, offers a transformative solution by providing an affordable, rapid, and scalable alternative that can be implemented in a wide range of clinical settings. Its low-cost model has the potential to bridge the diagnostic gap in underserved communities, ensuring that life-saving cancer treatments are guided by accurate data, regardless of a patient’s economic standing, advancing global health equity and improving patient outcomes.