St Vincent's Hospital Sydney has entered into a multi-year collaboration with imaging solutions developer Sydney Neuroimaging Analysis Centre to co-develop and deploy novel AI diagnostics solutions.

According to a media release, the partnership will bring together AI engineers, radiologists, imaging analysts, expert clinicians and data, utilising SNAC's technology platform to drive large-scale deployment of AI clinical applications in a major public Australian hospital.

WHY IT MATTERS

The deal, in particular, will see AI embedded in SVHS to enable the rapid triage of critical imaging abnormalities in emergency patients, according to SVHS CEO Anthony Schembri. Trained using 40,000 clinical cases, SNAC's VeriScout software does automatic real-time detection and triaging of cerebral haemorrhage cases found in non-contrast head CT images. 

Another AI solution to be deployed is meant to enhance the monitoring of patients with chronic neurological disorders, Schembri said. SNAC's iQ (intelligent quantification) solution makes quantitative analysis of brain structures from MRI images. It assists radiologists and doctors in accurately assessing changes in a patient's brain structure in real-time, enabling personalised monitoring and precision management.

THE LARGER TREND

This collaboration deal follows the recent signing of a similar multi-year partnership between SNAC and medical imaging provider Synergy Radiology to also develop new AI solutions for clinical radiology. Their agreement will see the integration of SNAC's AI products into Synergy's existing radiology workflows.

ON THE RECORD

Dr Eugene Hsu, a radiologist at SVHS, is expecting the rollout of AI-based scanners to offer them "an opportunity to extract unprecedented detail from brain and body images". 

"This landmark collaboration agreement with St Vincent’s, a major Australian teaching hospital, will deliver novel healthcare solutions at scale and bolster SNAC’s growing suite of imaging-AI and informatics products," SNAC COO Tim Wang also commented.