Summation
- “Obtaining an accurate ultrasound diagnosis in time can literally be the difference between life and death, so the fact that so many patients are forced to wait up to a month for one is nothing short of a global health crisis,”.
- However, it can often take weeks or months to receive a diagnosis, primarily due to a chronic lack of qualified medical professionals, as well as the logistical difficulties of transporting patients to the scan.
- In a recent study – still currently under review at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center – 660 patients who had not received a full ultrasound underwent AISAP scans at the Emergency Department or Internal Medicine units.
AISAP, whose AI-powered Point Of Care Assisted Diagnosis (POCAD)™ solution is transforming the medical ultrasound industry, announced its seed funding round today. The company secured $13 million, led by Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. and Shoni Top Ventures, L.P.
Ultrasound scans are crucial for discovering and diagnosing many medical conditions. However, it can often take weeks or months to receive a diagnosis, primarily due to a chronic lack of qualified medical professionals, as well as the logistical difficulties of transporting patients to the scan. As a result, many patients get left behind. While portable POCUS devices do exist – removing the need to transport patients to and from scans – these devices don’t solve the fundamental problem, as they, too, can only be operated by experts.
AISAP’s POCAD™ solution solves this challenge by providing AI-powered diagnoses that are both highly accurate and easy for any physician to understand – not just ultrasound experts. This includes a unique “urgency score” that enables medical providers to prioritize cases based on the severity of the condition; a score that measures the quality of the scan for operators, to ensure accuracy even if they are less familiar with traditional ultrasound devices; and Deep Learning AI capabilities that enable accurate readings even with lower-quality images from handheld machines. Unlike most other POCUS devices, AISAP’s POCAD™ solution can even provide detailed, accurate diagnoses of specific valves within the cardiovascular systems. And while the average ultrasound takes weeks on average to provide a full analysis and diagnosis, AISAP’s solution does so in as little as 5 minutes.
AISAP’s algorithms have been trained on more than 300,000 studies comprising over 24 million video clips, and the technology has been validated by a range of medical experts from The Mayo Clinic, Inova Health Foundation, Jefferson Health, Poriya Institute and more.
In a recent study – still currently under review at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center – 660 patients who had not received a full ultrasound underwent AISAP scans at the Emergency Department or Internal Medicine units. In 29% of those cases, the AISAP solution discovered at least one previously-unknown, moderate medical condition.
AISAP was founded by a unique group of experts from the medical, technology and intelligence worlds, united in their vision for universally accessible medical care. Its co-founders are Adiel Am-Shalom – who managed R&D and Cyber teams in the Israel Defense Force’s elite 8200 intelligence unit and the founder of IDL; Ehud Raanani – Director of the Leviev Cardiovascular and Thoracic Center at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center; Robert Klempfner – Director of the Israeli Center for Cardiovascular Research; and Ehud Schwammenthal – a world-renowned expert in echocardiography and the founder of both Ventor Technologies and Magenta Medical. While AISAP’s POCAD™ solution is currently focused on the area of cardiac medicine, the company is developing additional products in other anatomical areas as well.
“Obtaining an accurate ultrasound diagnosis in time can literally be the difference between life and death, so the fact that so many patients are forced to wait up to a month for one is nothing short of a global health crisis,” says AISAP CEO Roni Attali. “This problem is particularly acute in rural areas or those with fewer resources, and therefore disproportionately impacts disadvantaged populations.”
“It’s hard to overstate the potential impact of AISAP’s solution,” states Tamir Pardo, a former head of Israel’s Mossad covert intelligence agency who today heads AISAP’s Strategic Board. “The ability to provide critical diagnoses anywhere, anytime, without the need for a dedicated expert, is a paradigm shift that could save countless lives. That was reason enough for me to make AISAP’s mission my own, and this investment is a crucial milestone in achieving this lofty goal.”
