Summary
A Korean SME has developed AI-and machine learning-based software products based on the automatic analysis of medical imaging to aid the diagnosis of CNS (central nervous system) diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and brain metastasis. The technology can be leveraged to increase user productivity and efficiency and save a significant amount of time by quickly and accurately processing large datasets. The company is looking for partners under commercial agreement.
Description
Established in 2017, the Korean SME was founded by a neurologist who has wide experience with various projects targeting neurological disorders. After carrying out the government project under the theme of the development of biomarkers that improve the success rate of new drug development for CNS diseases, the founder wanted to commercialize this groundbreaking technology based on AI imaging biomarkers. Since the establishment, the Korean company has been developing AI-and machine learning-based software products based on the automatic analysis of medical imaging to aid the diagnosis of CNS diseases. As of today, the AI software solutions and its features are as follows.
1) The AI software products for Parkinson’s disease
The loss of dopaminergic neurons, which are responsible for controlling movements, is mainly associated with the disease and can be detected in the nigrosome 1 region (the dopaminergic neuron-rich region) of the midbrain. The software for Parkinson’s disease enable the visualization of the nigrosome 1 region on MR images and analyze the morphological changes in that anatomical structure as the imaging biomarker. Based on the analysis of MR images, the products not only provide quantitative and volumetric information on the nigrosome 1 region with the additional function of the manual adjustment of the region of interest, but also produce binary output with the region-based object detection method.
2) The AI software products for Alzheimer’s disease
The abnormal build-up of beta-amyloid and/or tau proteins is thought to be associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The software for Alzheimer’s disease analyze MR images and amyloid and/or tau PET images for the calculation of the SUVR scores to assess the accumulation of beta-amyloid and/or tau proteins. After automatically co-registering MR and PET images, the products segment 98 brain regions and assess global and regional beta-amyloid and/or tau protein depositions with SUVR scores. Additionally, a certain degree of atrophy can be seen in the brain of a patient with Alzheimer’s disease, and brain atrophy worsens as the disease progresses. The AI software product for brain atrophy utilizes MR images to segment 98 brain regions, calculate the degree of atrophy for each brain region, and measure the thickness of the cortex. The report provides the ranking based on the overall degree of brain atrophy by comparing the patient analysis results to a similar age group in the normative database, as well as atrophy results in the form of an atrophy index with volumetric information on brain regions.
3) The AI software products for stroke
The software for stroke can identify hemorrhage and large vessel occlusion (LVO) using non-contrast CT scans. Based on these non-contrast CT scans, the calculation of the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT score, which is used as a quantitative method to detect early ischemic changes, can also be performed. The products analyze the images and produce the results in under 2 minutes to better support the emergency situation.
4) The AI software product for brain metastasis
The software for brain metastasis assesses MR images to detect the presence of tumors that are 2 mm or larger in diameter and produces the results with the sizes and locations of the detected tumors.
The Korean company is well recognized to hospitals conducting CNS diseases research in Korea, and is conducting clinical research with them. Also, they are working with institutions and/or hospitals in the US, the Netherlands, and Germany. Based on these experiences, the Korean company wants to cooperate with more diverse global partners.
The company is looking for European partners under commercial agreement.