Samsung, MedyMatch Collaborate On AI-Directed Acute Stroke Detection
By Jof Enriquez,
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Samsung NeuroLogica, the healthcare subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, is integrating its computed tomography (CT) and other imaging equipment with artificial intelligence (A.I.) clinical decision support technology developed by Israeli startup MedyMatch.
The collaboration's initial target area will be acute stroke, where minutes matter and rapid assessment is critical in preventing brain death. In this emergency situation, clinicians must determine whether a patient is having a stroke caused by a blood clot or a brain hemorrhage; the latter must be ruled out before treatment for the former can take place.
MedyMatch's AI features a "bleed detection" algorithm that uses sophisticated deep learning, machine vision, patient data, and clinical insights to automatically point out areas in the brain where bleeds are located. The company expects to secure U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European regulatory approvals by the end of this year for its software, according to The Times of Israel.
The AI program will be integrated with Samsung's CereTom 8-slice small-bore portable CT scanner, aboard its mobile stroke units (MSU), which are specialized ambulances. These emergency vehicles provide fast response to victims of stroke, which affects nearly 800,000 Americans annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Most patients suffer ischemic stroke, and it can take up to an hour after a patient arrives in the emergency department to receive clot-busting tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) treatment.
"Samsung is committed to bringing innovative technology to the marketplace to improve patient outcomes. Our CereTom equipped Mobile Stroke Units are at the forefront of that commitment." said Phillip Sullivan, president and CEO, Samsung NeuroLogica, in a news release.
AI-directed diagnostic imaging promises to significantly facilitate the decision-making process by clinicians, including first responders who transport the patient to the hospital. Last month, MedyMatch started working with IBM Watson Health to integrate MedyMatch’s A.I.-based clinical decision support application to IBM Watson Health Imaging’s offerings to help doctors identify head trauma and stroke.
"We are on the threshold of the next evolutionary step in Imaging," said Gene Saragnese, chairman & CEO of MedyMatch. "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. Creating the truly intelligent imaging machine to assist physicians every day."