Researchers and healthcare technology innovators are using artificial intelligence in many ways to improve patient outcomes and experiences and healthcare delivery. TytoCare, Noze and Google, in partnership with Mayo Clinic, aim to tackle some of the challenges of speed to diagnosis and treatment with new AI-powered technologies.

FDA clears AI-driven remote wheeze detection by TytoCare

TytoCare, a virtual care company, announced today that it has received U.S Food and Drug Administration clearance for its Tyto Insights for Wheeze Detection.

The new clearance adds lung-sound analysis algorithms to TytoCare’s Home Smart Clinic. 

TytoCare says the company's database of lung sounds is the largest of its kind and can expand acute care and chronic condition management, according to the announcement.

"TytoCare’s Home Smart Clinic was introduced to solve the home healthcare delivery gap that patients experience with traditional audio/video-only telehealth solutions," the company said.

The company's FDA-approved handheld remote examination device and AI analyze recorded lung sounds to help clinicians diagnose respiratory conditions remotely. The company says the remote medical technology can determine whether wheezing is detected in adults and children aged 2 and above. 

When a remote lung exam is carried out over telehealth, TytoCare's Wheeze Detection prompts a clinician if an abnormal lung sound suggestive of wheezing is suspected.

"TytoCare has found that respiratory diagnoses constitute over 40% of all diagnoses made using its virtual care solution," the company said.

For chronic respiratory conditions, the AI-powered decision support tool could provide greater access to care, particularly where healthcare resources are limited. 

"Our Tyto Insight capabilities, including our Wheeze Detection algorithm, furthers our goal of enhancing the virtual care experience for all patients, clinicians, providers and health plans – not just by increasing the quality of care and expanding our chronic care management capabilities, but also by further assisting clinicians and specialists to make informed and accurate diagnoses remotely," said Dedi Gilad, CEO and co-founder of TytoCare.

Scaling infectious disease detection with digital odor perception

Noze, a Canadian start-up, said yesterday it has received a $1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop portable, mass-scale disease detection. 

Malaria is a leading cause of death and disease in many developing countries. According to the 2021 World Malaria Report, nearly half of the world’s population lives in areas at risk of malaria transmission, in approximately 87 countries and territories. 

The company said that an affordable and easy-to-use breathalyzer that can accurately detect infectious diseases could help millions of people.

According to the announcement, Noze is the world’s first breathalyzer able to detect breath biomarkers for rapid screening and diagnosis of infectious diseases like malaria and tuberculosis. 

"Exhaled breath offers an incredibly revealing picture of a person’s current health due to the efficient exchange that takes place between the blood and the air in the lungs," the company said.

By digitizing the sense of smell, its AI-powered digital odor perception platform is able to detect many different diseases represented in the breath through their unique metabolic biomarkers.

Noze said, "The long-term goal of the initiative is to enable global access to a reliable detection device that can help reduce the spread of diseases, identify the need for treatment as early as possible, and improve patient outcomes in developing countries."

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Noze tracked the airborne markers released by persons infected with the Coronavirus and influenza. 

"Breath-based diagnostics will be a game-changer for healthcare accessibility, and our ability to launch a portable device and deliver it on a massive, worldwide scale can be a powerful new tool to fight the spread of malaria and tuberculosis, in addition to many other diseases," said Karim Aly, CEO at Noze, in the statement.

Development of the diagnostic breathalyzer is targeted for completion by the end of 2023, the company said.

Google and Mayo Clinic to develop AI-driven radiotherapy tool

On Tuesday, Google announced that it formalized an agreement with the Mayo Clinic to develop a radiotherapy model that will help providers automatically outline, or contour, around organs on CT scans. 

The tech giant shared updates during The Check Up 2023, an event centered on news from Google Health. The company said it would soon publish research findings about the radiotherapy model developed in partnership with Mayo Clinic. 

"As of today, we’re formalizing our agreement with Mayo Clinic to explore further research, model development and commercialization," according to Dr. Greg Corrado, head of health AI, in a Google blog post. 

"Taking these next steps with Mayo Clinic means that together we can extend the reach of our model, with the goal of helping more patients receive radiotherapy treatment sooner," he said.

The partnership began three years ago.

"We partnered with Mayo Clinic to start exploring how AI could help clinicians spend less time on contouring," Corrado said Tuesday. 

The goal for cancer care was to develop an algorithm that would improve the quality of radiation plans and patient outcomes and reduce the time it takes radiotherapy practices to develop targeted treatment plans.

"Much like Google Maps can detect billion buildings and roads using AI, we built technology that could detect organs in CT scans and quickly outline them for review by specialists," Corrado said.

Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.