Two companies earn FDA approval for AI-powered tools to help imaging professionals
Two technology companies recently earned approval from the Food and Drug Administration for new offerings that use machine learning to help making image interpretation a little easier.
Those include an AI offering from Oxford, England-based Ultromics, which automates cardiac analysis to help with early detection of cardiovascular disease, along with an AI-powered algorithm from Hologic that reduces mammography exam read times.
For Ultromics’ part, the clearance allows the company to make its EchoGo product available to U.S. providers, which uses AI to automate analysis of ultrasound heart scans. They’ve spent years developing the technology, prompting founder and CEO Ross Upton to call this approval a “watershed moment for Ultromics.”
"This is an incredibly exciting step towards the future of healthcare. EchoGo will help clinicians make more accurate and informed decisions to improve patient care delivery,” he said in a statement.
In the past, echocardiography has depended on the eyes of clinicians to measure anatomical structures and pinpoint disease. But that task can be time-consuming and vary greatly from one patient to the next.
EchoGo uses AI to calculate ventricular ejection fraction, left ventricular volumes and automated cardiac strain. This assist is meant to help clinicians interpret echocardiograms more efficiently and accurately, the company noted. They next plan to commercialize the product and make it available to providers, according to their announcement.
Meanwhile, Marlborough, Massachusetts-based Hologic also recently earned FDA approval for its 3DQuorum Imaging Technology, which is powered by its Genius AI platform.
According to a company announcement, the new tech tool uses AI analytics to help expedite read time by reducing the number of mammography images radiologists need to review. Hologics estimated that the technology drops the number of 3D images to view by about two-thirds or one hour of image interpretation time per eight-hour shift.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.