As a pathologist, Zafar conducts clinical lab tests on bodily fluids and tissues to diagnose diseases like cancer. Often hidden behind the scenes, it’s an essential part of medical care.

Zafar’s colleague consulted with him about a prostate cancer case late last year. Clearly, the patient had cancer, but the doctors disagreed about how severe it was. According to Zafar, the cancer was more aggressive than his colleague thought. 

Zafar turned to his microscope, one of the most revered tools in pathology. But this is no ordinary microscope. A microscope powered by artificial intelligence was developed by Google and the U.S. Defense Department. 

After running the case through the microscope, Zafar was right. Zafar’s AI identified the exact part of the tumor Zafar believed was more aggressive in seconds. Zafar said his colleague was convinced after the machine backed him up. 

Zafar told in an interview that he had a smile on his face, and he agreed with it. “This is the beauty of this technology, it’s like an arbitrator.”

Google and the Department of Defense have been quietly developing an Augmented Reality Microscope, or ARM, for years. While the technology is still in its infancy and is not being used to diagnose patients yet, initial research suggests it could prove to be a useful tool for pathologists without easy access to a second opinion.