TORONTO – Within a week of completing clinical trials the chest radiography AI tool developed by Vancouver, B.C.-based 1Qbit Inc. has been given the all-clear from Health Canada for deployment across the country. The XrAI was originally developed to better identify patients with respiratory illness including SARS, pneumonia and tuberculosis (TB), but then in February was tested on a publicly available data set of COVID-19 X-ray images.
Reports of unusually high death rates for COVID-19 patients on ventilators have raised alarms, and some doctors are looking to reduce reliance on the breathing machines when possible. To advance that goal, Lungpacer Medical Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, has obtained an emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. FDA for its Lungpacer diaphragmatic pacing therapy system (DPTS) for immediate use in ventilator patients at high risk of weaning failure, including patients with the novel coronavirus.
Weeks after raising an oversubscribed $60 million series A, Affinia Therapeutics Inc., of Waltham, Mass., is collaborating with Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. in a far larger deal, one potentially worth more than $1.6 billion.
Pittsburgh-based Alung Technologies Inc. has received emergency use authorization from the U.S. FDA for its Hemolung Respiratory Assist System (RAS) to treat lung failure caused by COVID-19. The technology could help to ease demand for ventilators, which have been in short supply in coronavirus hot spots, and provide an alternative for patients who can’t tolerate mechanical ventilation.
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