Artificial intelligence is making a new inroad into the critical brain-bleed world, where “time lost is brain lost.”
The MedyMatch artificial intelligence bleed-detection application will be bundled with the Samsung NeuroLogica CereTom, an 8-slice small-bore portable CT scanner."
"We are on the threshold of the next evolutionary step in imaging," MedyMatch chairman & CEO Gene Saragnese said in a statement, adding that “imaging technological development has been historically focused on providing clinicians the best possible image, optimizing spatial and temporal resolution, coverage and dose; however, MedyMatch's artificial intelligence applications will leap this paradigm forward, enabling imagers such as CT to provide clinical answers and not just images.” He added that this creates “the truly intelligent imaging machine to assist physicians every day."
The A.I. software will first be integrated into the mobile stroke unit (MSU), a specialized ambulance or other emergency vehicle that is equipped with a Samsung NeuroLogica CereTom CT scanner.
This will enable rapid assessment of patients having a stroke that “will allow caregivers to move quickly down the most appropriate treatment path, potentially, even while in transit to the hospital,” stated developers.
"This is just one example of how intelligent imaging can have a positive impact on a stroke or trauma patient, and provide a whole new level of care by bringing 'A.I. to the curbside',” said Robert Mehler, Chief Operating Officer of MedyMatch. "MedyMatch envisions that medical imaging devices will be A.I. enabled with decision support to assist the physician in patient care, increase the speed in which patient assessment can be performed and optimize the clinical workflow."
Faster diagnosis is key to better care for patients in these cases. "Technology that can assist the physicians in recognizing brain bleeds more quickly, will lead to faster decision making for the patient and better outcomes," said Dr. Peter Rasmussen, medical director of Cleveland Clinic's Distance Health Program.
The addition maximizes the utility of bringing scanning to the patients in such cases.
Samsung sees the addition of A.I. as an important step in making the most of bringing scanning technology to patients before they get to the hospital.
"We are seeing worldwide demand and implementation of our Mobile Stroke Units, with new installations in New York, Trenton, Chicago, Bangkok, Alberta, India and Germany,” said Phillip Sullivan, president and chief executive officer, Samsung NeuroLogica. “Our collaboration with MedyMatch is one more step forward in advanced technology to support better treatment of stroke."
The portable X-ray and CT scan device market is steadily growing in importance. According to the companies, it should be heading up by 7.6 percent CAGR to 2020, reaching $8.41 billion.
MedyMatch was also in the news this month when it and IBM Watson Health announced a collaboration in which Watson Health will distribute the MedyMatch clinical support bleed application globally through its vendor-neutral sales channels for integration into its other offerings.
"MedyMatch is focused on those clinical areas where time is of the essence, when access to expert physicians may not be feasible, and when decision in treatment can cause more harm to the patient than doing nothing at all," Gene Saragnese, chairman & CEO, MedyMatch Technology
told HCB News.
The goal is to provide an all-important "second set of artificial eyes" when time is critical.
"For the physician, it is the confidence of knowing that they are not alone. In that moment of decision to treat, or not treat the patient, knowing that there is a high probability of either the presence of a bleed or no indication of brain bleed, may be the factor that saves the patient’s life," he said.
When MedyMatch unveiled its software in November, 2016, Dr. Jacob Cohen, chief technical officer of MedyMatch, noted that, "consideration of the whole patient differentiates MedyMatch from traditional computer assisted detection (CAD) applications." "While traditional CADs strictly focus on pixel data, MedyMatch's technology applies deep learning and computer vision, also known as 'Deep Vision,' to interpret the full richness of the 3-D imaging data, together with the patient's Electronic Medical Record, allowing the system to consider the 'whole' patient."