(Yicai) April 18 -- The artificial intelligence-powered tool developed by Alibaba’s Damo Academy for early pancreatic cancer detection has become the first AI model ever to receive the US Food and Drug Administration’s "breakthrough device" designation.

The FDA will speed up the review process for Damo Panda so patients and medical institutions can benefit from this advanced diagnosis technology as soon as possible, Hangzhou-based Damo Academy announced yesterday.

Damo Panda uses AI to identify subtle lesions in computed tomography images that are difficult for the human eye to detect. Test results show it has a screen sensitivity of 92.9 percent and a specificity of 99.9 percent.

Since its launch in November 2023, Damo Panda has been used for non-profit purposes in some hospitals and physical examination centers in China.

The Affiliated People's Hospital of Ningbo University, for instance, introduced Damo Panda last month. With it, six of the hospital's 40,000 patients were diagnosed with early-stage pancreatic cancer, two of which were not detected during regular examinations, Damo Academy said earlier.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers, with an average five-year survival rate of less than 10 percent. The main reason for its high lethality is that it is very insidious, as more than 80 percent of patients are diagnosed only at an advanced stage. However, pancreatic cancer can be cured by surgical resection if detected early.

China has been accelerating the application of AI in the medical field over the past year. The National Healthcare Security Administration included AI-assisted diagnosis in the guide list for medical service prices for the first time last November and set up AI-assisted extensions for radiology examination and rehabilitation projects.

Founded by Alibaba Group Holding in 2017, Damo Academy is “dedicated to exploring the unknown through scientific and technological research and innovation,” according to its website.

“Driven by the pursuit of the betterment of humanity, it conducts future-oriented research on basic science and innovative technology,” the site says. “Its goal is to connect applied research and industrial application and to turn technology into product and drive product marketization.”

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione