By Yakir Benzion, United With Israel -
In under four years, an Israeli company has rocketed from being a medical diagnostic startup to having multiple products that are already FDA approved and used in 400 medical centers on five continents, including Israel’s leading hospitals.
Tel Aviv-based Aidoc developed artificial intelligence (AI) technology to help radiologists interpret medical images so they can more quickly find serious abnormalities in X-Rays and CT scans including blood hemorrhaging, strokes, pulmonary embolism, and cervical spine fractures.
Aidoc only started in 2016, but has already raised a whopping $60 million in investment and says its sales have tripled since the beginning of 2020.
The company’s four founders started their careers in the IDF, doing AI development in the army’s elite “Talpiot” intelligence unit, which recruits outstanding academic talent in the sciences who have leadership potential. Members of Talpiot are known to get multiple university degrees during their service, which can be for 10 years or more, doing research and development in new technology.
Each of Aidoc’s core team brought one-of-a-kind algorithmic, computation, medical and research capabilities to the company, where they hired three U.S certified on-staff physicians to “form a unique team that leads the industry both technologically and clinically,” the company said.
“The value AI brings in supporting radiologists is so obvious to us, and Aidoc has stamped itself as a clear leader in the space,” said investor Dan Krasnostein. “Since our first investment, the company has continued to make giant steps forward with new products brought to market and a significant increase in the number of customers they serve.”
“Supporting a business that is improving patient care and saving lives on a daily basis is incredibly exciting,” Krasnostein said.
“Every case represents an individual and their families, and Aidoc gives our 300-plus radiologists tools that will help them detect critical findings, which can save lives.” said Henrik Agrell, CEO of the Unilabs Telemedicine Clinic, which provides services throughout Europe and Australia using Aidoc’s diagnostic products.
“AI is the new frontier in diagnosis, and with Aidoc’s AI we will provide the safest reporting solution possible,” Agrell added.
Aidoc says radiologists benefit from its state-of-the art deep learning technology, because its programs are “always-on,” running behind the scenes and freeing the doctors up to focus on the diagnosis itself.
Last week, the Aidoc technology helped the save a life of a 26-year-old car crash victim who was brought to the emergency ward at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan with multiple organ injuries.
“During the total body scan, an epidural hematoma [bleeding in the brain] was flagged … this enabled the trauma team to prioritize treatment of the epidural hematoma over a more stable abdominal trauma” the patient also had, tweeted Dr. Gal Yaniv, a neuro-radiologist at the hospital who is also Aidoc’s chief medical officer.
