Artificial Intelligence project to power the future of Stem Cell Manufacturing

A new project to improve stem cell manufacturing using Artificial Intelligence (AI) could have lasting impacts for the health sector.

A three-year project, entitled ‘DeepStain: Deep Learning for Cell Image Analysis’ hopes to accelerate an area of drug development which is at the root of many diseases.

DeepStain is part of a strategic partnership between Valitacell, an award-winning Irish biotechnology company and CeADAR, Ireland’s Centre for Applied Artificial Intelligence.

The project has received €242,000 funding from Enterprise Ireland and the EU under the Marie Sk?odowska-Curie Co-Fund Scheme, which is part of the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme.

This innovative programme matches top talent and skills from around the world with the research needs of enterprises in Ireland.

Stem cells have the potential to treat many conditions including cancer, arthritis, and Crohn’s disease, yet they can be hard to manufacture. This is because monitoring stem cell quality involves a lot of slow and difficult laboratory work.

The DeepStain project will use Artificial Intelligence to quickly analyse images of stem cells to determine their quality and make stem cell manufacturing more efficient.

The core team is composed of Dr Ricardo Simon Carbajo (CeADAR), Dr Paul Dobson (Valitacell) and Dr Polat Gökta? (CeADAR & Valitacell), and builds on previous work and interdisciplinary expertise.

Dr Ricardo Simon Carbajo, Head of Innovation & Development at CeADAR said:

“AI can massively help to improve the Biopharma value chain. In this project, we will be applying the latest techniques in Computer Vision to speed up the process of manufacturing stem cells. We are delighted to partner with Valitacell as they are truly innovating in this area and we can produce a real impact in society.”

Dr Paul Dobson, Head of Data at Valitacell said:

“Working with CeADAR will help Valitacell leverage the power of Deep Learning to create better bioprocess analytical technologies to support stem cell therapy manufacturing. This will help translate stem cells from being a niche experimental therapy into a treatment available to patients worldwide.”