AI Deployed to Sharpen Prostate Cancer Detection in Clinical First

CAROLINA, Puerto Rico – March 25, 2026 – In a significant step toward integrating artificial intelligence into the fabric of routine medical diagnostics, CorePlus Servicios Clínicos y Patológicos announced today the first clinical deployment of an AI-powered solution designed specifically for one of pathology’s more challenging procedures. The Puerto Rico-based laboratory, in an expanded partnership with AI pioneer Ibex Medical Analytics, is now using an AI tool to enhance the diagnostic accuracy of Transurethral Resection of the Prostate (TURP) specimens.

This initiative embeds Ibex Prostate for TURP directly into the clinical workflow at CorePlus, a high-complexity CLIA-certified laboratory known for its leadership in digital pathology. The move represents a critical milestone, moving AI from a promising technology in research settings to a practical tool used daily to support pathologists and improve patient outcomes in high-volume cancer diagnostics.

A New Digital Safety Net for a Complex Diagnosis

Diagnosing cancer from TURP tissue samples presents a unique set of difficulties for pathologists. The procedure, often used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia, generates a large volume of tissue chips that must be meticulously examined. However, the prevalence of cancer within these samples is relatively low, creating a labor-intensive, “needle-in-a-haystack” scenario that demands immense precision and efficiency.

“TURP specimens represent one of the most challenging diagnostic scenarios in pathology, where high volume and low cancer prevalence demand both efficiency and precision,” said Mariano de Socarraz, CEO of CorePlus, in the company’s announcement.

The Ibex Prostate AI is engineered to address this exact challenge. Integrated into the lab's digital workflow, the software acts as a tireless assistant, pre-screening all cases. It automatically triages the workload, flagging slides that require urgent attention and, most critically, highlighting tiny, suspicious regions of interest that could indicate malignancy. This serves as both an efficiency tool and a crucial diagnostic safety net, helping to ensure that even the smallest cancerous foci are not overlooked during a pathologist's review.

This AI-augmented approach allows pathologists to focus their expertise on the most complex aspects of a case, confident that a powerful algorithm has provided a comprehensive first pass. Research supporting similar Ibex tools has demonstrated exceptional performance, with validation studies for its FDA-cleared prostate biopsy software showing a nearly 99% accuracy in identifying cancer and an ability to detect cases initially missed by human review.

From Pioneer to Power User: A Blueprint for AI Adoption

The deployment is the latest chapter in CorePlus’s long history of digital innovation. The laboratory has already surpassed a remarkable milestone: performing over 250,000 AI-based diagnostic analyses in its routine practice using the Ibex platform. This extensive real-world experience, one of the largest of its kind globally, establishes CorePlus not just as an early adopter but as a leader in creating a scalable blueprint for AI integration.

Years before this latest deployment, CorePlus became the first laboratory in the Americas to integrate AI into its primary diagnostic workflow for both prostate and breast biopsies. The lab's commitment to validating this technology is underscored by its peer-reviewed research. One study published in the Journal of Pathology Informatics, based on over 122,000 slides from their local patient cohort, demonstrated the AI’s high sensitivity (96.6%) and specificity (96.7%) for prostate cancer detection.

Critically, CorePlus is implementing the new TURP solution within a Lab Developed Test (LDT) workflow. LDTs are regulated under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) and are designed and used within a single lab. This regulatory pathway allows innovative laboratories like CorePlus to rapidly validate and deploy cutting-edge technologies for their specific patient population while maintaining rigorous quality standards, distinct from the lengthy FDA pre-market approval process required for broadly marketed medical devices.

“Our commitment at CorePlus is to lead the transformation toward precision pathology, where advanced technologies enable more accurate, consistent, and clinically actionable diagnoses,” de Socarraz stated.

The Growing Impact on Patient Care and the Pathology Field

The ultimate beneficiary of this technological advancement is the patient. By enhancing diagnostic accuracy and consistency, the AI system directly contributes to a higher standard of care. CorePlus has previously reported that insights from the Ibex AI have helped its pathologists correct diagnoses for over 150 patients, a tangible demonstration of how a digital safety net can prevent misdiagnoses and ensure patients are placed on the correct treatment pathway from the start.

Beyond individual patient impact, the widespread adoption of such tools has profound implications for the healthcare system. With a global shortage of pathologists and a rising cancer caseload, AI-driven efficiency tools are becoming essential. They can help reduce pathologist burnout, standardize the quality of diagnostics across institutions, and decrease turnaround times, allowing treatment to begin sooner.

“Our collaboration with CorePlus demonstrates how AI can be successfully integrated into routine clinical practice at scale,” noted Yair Heller, CEO of Ibex Medical Analytics. “CorePlus’s extensive experience makes them an ideal partner for the deployment of Ibex Prostate for TURP, bringing advanced diagnostic tools to patients undergoing these critical procedures.”

The announcement coincides with the USCAP 2026 Annual Meeting, where CorePlus is being recognized for its contributions to digital transformation in pathology. This recognition from the field's leading professional organization further cements the lab's role in charting a course for the future of diagnostics, a future where human expertise is augmented, not replaced, by the precision and power of artificial intelligence.