Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) such as stroke and heart attack are the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Image credit: sasirin pamai via Shutterstock.
Fujifilm is collaborating with Singapore-based company Us2.ai to integrate the company’s AI-based image analysis software into the clinical workflows of the LISENDO 880 and LISENDO 800 cardiovascular ultrasound systems for diagnosing heart disease.
Us2.ai’s software will analyse the images obtained with Fujifilm’s ultrasound systems, mitigating the manual analysis processes that previously had to be undertaken by clinicians.
The software conducts fully automated analyses of all heart chambers using both 2D and Doppler views, as well as captures a range of other clinically significant measurements. Once an image analysis is completed, Us2.ai’s software presents clinicians with disease indication conclusions based on international guidelines and recommendations to inform the next steps of treatment.
The LISENDO 880 and its predecessor, the LISENDO 800, are specifically designed for performing echocardiography, a non-invasive procedure that uses high-energy ultrasound to look at tissues and organs inside the chest. Although the procedure is widely used and considered one of the safest, most reliable and cost-effective ways to diagnose cardiovascular diseases (CVD), it is a particularly time-consuming process and requires highly trained sonographers, who are in short supply, among other specialist practitioners, on a global scale.
Calling echo images the “gold standard” for non-invasive cardiac imaging, Hideyuki Honda, vice president for the ultrasound business unit and business development at Fujifilm Healthcare Americas, stated that the average exam time can take between 40 and 90 minutes. However, Us2.ai’s software, which has been shown to result in a 70% reduction in measurement and report creation time versus manual methods, is expected to “dramatically reduce” this time burden.
Honda said: “Integrating Us2.ai’s sophisticated AI with our cutting-edge LISENDO systems will provide cardiologists with exceptional, AI-driven automation analysis of the heart.”
Us2.ai head of business development Seth Koeppel commented: “Fujifilm ultrasound is renowned for image quality. Combining this with Us2.ai’s fully automated AI analysis for echocardiography is a game-changer for echo labs that can now address the many workflow, quality, ergonomic and safety challenges they face.”
CVDs are the leading cause of death worldwide, with CVDs such as coronary heart disease and peripheral artery disease contributing to 20.5 million deaths, or approximately a third of all global deaths, in 2021.
AI in medical imaging has recently seen a rapid rise. US software company Rad AI brought its total funding to date to around $140m after completing a $60m Series C financing round in January to support the continued uptake of its AI-based software for use in radiology workflows.
Last year, Elucid gained clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for PlaqueIQ, an AI-powered image analysis software designed to detect arterial plaque build-up, a key risk factor associated with CVDs such as stroke and heart attack.
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