Startups from around the world are innovating in the ways artificial intelligence can be brought to bear in the healthcare space, with clinical, financial and operational applications, as evidenced by new launches from two AI companies with roots in Israel.

This week, Netanya-based CLEW Medical, launched its predictive analytics platform, which crunches real-time data with machine learning technology to drive quality and safety improvement and help control costs.

The company, formerly known as Intensix, said the AI platform can help health systems prevent life-threatening complications across settings. It's been deployed in intensive care units already, and CLEW aims to expand the technology's applications, giving staff insights to help streamline medical care.

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Officials pointed out that inpatients often come with some 300 unique data elements to be tracked, some measured every few milliseconds. Its centralized AI platform can help hospitals manage that massive amount of information and gain predictive about the health conditions of patients across departments.

"With our advanced clinical ICU-tested algorithms that customizes physiological models and predicts patients deterioration before it happens, our goal is to bring hospitals into the future of medical care, and redefine healthcare delivery," said Gal Salomon, CEO and Founder of CLEW.

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The platform offers actionable tracking for at-risk patients, according to the company, giving notifications for rapid response teams if patients experience unexpected clinical deterioration; it helps with patient flow and clinical path management, spotting deviations from patients' foreseen medical outcomes. Its continuous assessment can help determine if patients' level of care should be altered, and its real-time data can help hospitals prioritize clinical resource allocation.

Meanwhile, another startup, Viz.ai, which has offices in Tel Aviv and San Francisco, has developed what it says is a new AI-enabled approach to stroke care that can automatically analyze brain CTs, detecting suspected large vessel occlusions and notifying clinicians when they occur.

Viz.ai calls it a direct-to-intervention system, and it applies deep learning algorithms to help automate the identification of such occlusions, which are responsible for the most serious strokes. The technology can help get a stroke specialist involved in the care of a patient earlier than with more conventional means of detection, officials say.

"Today’s stroke care is indirect, with lengthy time to treatment," said Viz.ai CEO and co-founder Chris Mansi, MD, in a statement."Direct-to-Intervention Care provides the right information to the right doctor at the right time, greatly expediting the assessment and treatment process. Our direct-to-intervention system represents a paradigm shift in stroke care, one which promises to speed workflow and increase access."

In May 2017, Viz.ai completed a $7.5 million round of seed financing, led by DHVC with other investments from Eric Schmidt's Innovation Endeavors and Jerry Yang's AME Cloud Ventures.

Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com