Radiologist burnout is a common problem. To combat this issue, Berkeley, Calif.-based Rad AI has launched with a $4 million seed round led by Gradient Ventures, Google's AI-focused venture fund. Other participants in the round were UP2398, Precursor Ventures, GMO Venture Partners, Array Ventures, Hike Ventures, Fifty Years VC and various angels.
LONDON – Mologic Ltd. has started recruitment in a 263-patient trial to validate its urine-based home test for anticipating exacerbations of chronic pulmonary obstructive disease (COPD). The lateral flow immunoassay self-test detects five biomarkers of the lung disease in urine that are indicative of inflammation and infection.
Optina Diagnostics, of Montreal, and the Wagner Macula & Retina Center are collaborating on a clinical study using Optina's Retinal Deep Phenotyping (RDP) platform to screen for Alzheimer's disease. The program will put the platform into nine community eye clinics in Virginia and North Carolina.
Oxford University startup Ultromics Ltd. has won the U.S. FDA's nod for its artificial intelligence (AI) image analysis system for diagnosing coronary artery disease. Called Echogo Core, the system is intended to serve as an aid to cardiologists in evaluating echocardiograms of patients referred with symptoms such as shortness of breath and chest pain. Ross Upton, co-founder and CEO of Ultromics, called the clearance a "watershed moment" for the company, which began developing its algorithm-based system in 2011 and was spun out of Oxford University in 2017. The next stage for the company is commercializing the product and bringing it to clinicians in the U.S. Ross said the company expects to launch the product in the beginning of next year.
Marlborough, Mass.-based Hologic Inc. got good news from the U.S. FDA, which has given the green light for the 3Dquorum imaging technology, which employs Genius AI. The technology works along with Hologic's Clarity HD high-resolution imaging technology to reduce tomosynthesis image volume for radiologists by 66%, the company said.
TORONTO – On average, radiology specialists diagnose fewer than 50% of cases of collapsed lung or pneumothorax using chest X-rays, said systems design engineer Hamid Tizhoosh. The Insignio system developed at Tizhoosh's Kitchener, Ontario-based Kimia Lab has gone further by identifying 75% of cases of collapsed lungs using artificial intelligence (AI) to search a database of 550,000 patients and compare 30,000 cases of pneumothorax there to X-rays of new patients with unknown conditions.
PARIS – A French research consortium bringing together the firm Cap Gemini SE, the Traumabase (traumabase.eu) network, the AP-HP group of 39 teaching hospitals in the Paris region, the École Polytechnique, the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), is developing the first AI decision-making tool for managing patients with severe trauma in their first 24 hours.
TORONTO – Health Canada has granted a medical license to Toronto-based pharmaceuticals company Hls Therapeutics Inc. for a device that simplifies blood monitoring for patients suffering from treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS).
Los Altos, Calif.-based Heartvista Inc. has received the U.S. FDA's nod for its One Click autonomous MRI acquisition software for cardiac exams. The company said that One Click is the first artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted solution designed specifically with the goal of enhancing the performance and results of cardiac MRI scans.
Diagnosis and treatment of infections typically occurs after people exhibit obvious signs of illness, such as fever or a cough. By then, they may already have exposed others and are well on the way to developing more serious symptoms themselves. In the military, such delays can hamper medical countermeasures to contain potential outbreaks and reduce downtime among active duty personnel. Now, Amsterdam-based Royal Philips NV and the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Threat Reduction Agency and Defense Innovations Unit have built an early warning algorithm – using artificial intelligence – to detect infection before a person shows any signs or symptoms of infection.