An Israeli startup company, Zebra Medical Vision, has teamed up with Scottish consultancy firm Storm ID to develop methods using artificial intelligence to detect those at risk of developing osteoporosis. Their joint proposal won a UK-Israel research and development competition and will be co-funded in part by the two nations. The research collaboration will fall under the Eureka framework, a global intergovernmental network to promote market orientated research and development.
Working alongside the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Assuta Medical Centres in Israel, the two firms will seek to create a platform that allows for the early detection of patients at high risk of osteoporosis, a skeletal disorder causing low bone mass and fragility. Osteoporosis has become a growing public health concern in countries with ageing populations as osteoporotic fractures often result in unnecessary morbidity and mortality.
Zebra Medical Vision uses artificial intelligence to read and analyse medical scans with greater depth and accuracy than a clinician. Over the past six years, Zebra have been working with Clalit, one of Israel’s biggest healthcare providers, to trial a number of algorithms identifying patients who are at higher risk for osteoporosis and ensuring they undergo bone density screenings. Dr Michal Guindy, Head of Imaging and Innovation at Assuta, commented: “Assuta performs over 200,000 CT’s annually. By analysing studies that were done for other clinical indications, we can help prevent fractures and contribute to solving a public health challenge of growing concern”.
The platform developed by Storm ID analyses patient-generated health data from digital sources and consumer health technologies such as health apps, wearables and sensors. The data entered on their platform is then shared with multi-disciplinary clinicians who are able to analyse the data and use it to inform their decision-making process and next step treatment plans.
Zebra and Storm ID aim to combine their technologies in order to transform the osteoporosis screening system. The joint platform will perform an in-depth analysis of patient scans and health data alerting clinicians to candidates with above average risk factors for osteoporotic fractures. Early detection of these risk factors allows for healthcare plans to be put in place to reduce the risk of unnecessary morbidity and mortality. Paul McGinness, Director at Storm ID, commented: “By predicting ahead of time the potential risk of bone fractures, we can intervene earlier to treat and manage the risk, which is better for the patient and for the health system”.
The collaboration will work with a multidisciplinary team of international clinicians, data scientists and computer scientists over a period of two years. Clinical trials and the software platform will be pioneered and reviewed at both the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and at Assuta Medical Centres across Israel.
