Formerly known as eko.ai, the newly rebranded Us2.ai has gained patent licencing for its automated clinical workflow for heart ultrasound analysis. Working in collaboration with Janssen and AstraZeneca, to automate the fight against cardiovascular disease.
Heart failure is a global health problem, affecting more than 64 million people worldwide. In developed countries, the prevalence of diagnosed heart failure is estimated at one to two percent of the adult population, with the true prevalence including unrecognized heart failure even higher. Echocardiography is a cardiologist’s top tool of choice to safely image the heart, and the key diagnostic test required for the diagnosis of heart failure. However, conventional echocardiography is time consuming, expensive and only undertaken by highly trained specialists.
Sequoia India and EDBI backed start-up, eko.ai, announced on World Heart Day 2020 several significant achievements, including the renaming of the company to Us2.ai. The MedTech start-up is leveraging on machine learning to automate the analysis of echocardiograms or ultrasound images of the heart.
Us2.ai was also pleased to announce the grant of a U.S. Patent No. 10,702,247 for its automated clinical workflow that recognizes and analyses 2-dimensional and Doppler echo images for cardiac measurements and the diagnosis, prediction and prognosis of heart disease.
“Us2 software transforms what today is a slow, manual and error prone process into less than two minutes, one click and zero variability, delivering a complete echo report,” said James Hare, CEO and co-founder of Us2.ai.
“The potential of our AI platform has led to multiple research collaborations, and we’re delighted to welcome both AstraZeneca and Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd, a Janssen Pharmaceutical Company of Johnson & Johnson, as strategic partners in our mission to automate the fight against cardiovascular disease.”
The collaboration with Janssen will focus on automating echocardiography analyses to facilitate identification of pulmonary hypertension. The AstraZeneca research collaboration will refine algorithms for the diagnosis of heart failure, as well as test access to automated echocardiogram analysis with point-of-care solutions for people with heart failure.
“Since our founding three years ago, we’ve been driven by the conviction that AI can help broaden access to diagnosis and potentially lifesaving treatment,” said Yoran Hummel, President and co-founder of Us2.ai.
“These announcements reflect the rapid pace of our development and commitment to providing the next generation of ultrasound to us all.” [APBN]