UAE’s PureHealth launches the largest and most advanced AI-powered diagnostic laboratory

PureHealth has thrown open the doors to what is now the largest AI-powered standalone diagnostic laboratory in the UAE. It is a vast 70,000-square-foot complex built under the PureLab banner, and it arrives with the ambition to reshape how a nation reads the clues in every drop of blood and every tissue fragment. The launch felt almost ceremonial. Leaders from the Department of Health Abu Dhabi joined PureHealth executives to mark a moment that many in the room quietly called a turning point for diagnostics in the region.

Her Excellency Dr Fayeza Saif Alyafei put it plainly. She said the new lab is a clear step toward a smart and truly integrated healthcare system. Her words carried the weight of someone who has watched the region push hard for precision medicine and data-driven care.

How does it work?

The facility runs around the clock. It operates like a living organism trained for accuracy and speed.

At the core sits an AI-powered digital pathology platform that turns old-school glass slides into crisp digital images. This leap uses Whole Slide Imaging, which allows artificial intelligence to pick up disease markers with the keen eye of a seasoned specialist.

The lab is wired into a national Digital Pathology Initiative, and this link means oncology centres across the country can call up slides in real time, hold virtual consults, and shorten the quiet waiting time between suspicion and diagnosis.

Inside the seven-storey complex, robotics and AI-controlled systems move through the space with an almost choreographed rhythm.

More than 1,300 consultants feed clinical expertise into the pipeline. Their work fuels a portfolio of more than 1,800 testing parameters, covering molecular genetics, infectious disease detection, environmental analysis, transplant compatibility, and anatomic pathology.

A few things jump out:

• Continuous real-time quality checks
• Seamless integration with more than one hundred forty connected labs
• Built in room for future expansion
• Sustainable design with solar panels, hybrid fleets, and paperless reporting

Arindam Haldar, Chief Executive Officer of PureLab, said this facility will serve as a national cornerstone for programmes such as newborn screening and infectious disease monitoring.

Why does it matter?

Accuracy is the quiet hero of modern medicine. When diagnosis improves, treatment improves. When treatment improves, health outcomes rise. The new PureLab complex aims to push each of these forward simultaneously.

It matters because:

• It processes more than thirty million samples a year, which increases national capacity overnight
• It strengthens the UAE's position in precision diagnostics
• It accelerates turnaround times through AI-assisted detection
• It supports clinicians with deeper insight and less administrative drag
• It reduces fragmentation by offering a central testing platform for providers across the country

Her Excellency Dr Fayeza Saif Alyafei noted that projects like this help place Abu Dhabi in a leadership role in sustainable system development and AI-enabled healthcare. That message resonates far beyond the walls of the lab.

The context

Healthcare systems everywhere are wrestling with rising populations, soaring demand, and a global shortage of specialized talent. The UAE has responded with a clear national push toward data-driven healthcare and smart infrastructure. This new facility fits neatly into that long-term plan.

PureHealth already runs one of the region's largest healthcare networks. This new lab extends that reach by bringing high-volume diagnostics under one AI-enhanced roof. It also aligns with the country's net-zero vision, which explains the solar energy use and the move to digitize everything from transport to reporting.

In simple terms, this is not just a bigger lab. It is a signpost for what the next decade of diagnostics may look like. High throughput. AI at the centre. Human expertise is woven through every decision. And a system designed from day one to keep pace with a country growing as quickly as its ambitions.