AI analyzes medical scans for in-depth results

Tel Aviv-based digital healthcare start-up Zebra has developed multiple algorithms, to detect common conditions through AI analysis of medical scans.

Using deep machine learning, Zebra’s algorithms are continually improving. The Israeli digital healthcare start-up has hundreds of thousands of anonymized medical scans for its artificial intelligence (AI) systems that facilitate learning, and for comparisons with new images. So far, the AI is capable of diagnosing conditions in bones, the heart, liver, lungs and breasts.

With human radiologists already under pressure due to growing demand, the Zebra team sees its service as an essential solution to an increasingly difficult situation. Thousands of mammograms are misread each year because breast tissue can be extremely varied, and when combined with time constraints on already busy healthcare professionals, this consistently adds stress to overstretched systems. Additionally, as the population continues to age, the burden on healthcare provision and providers will also increase. Currently, patients can upload two scans to Zebra for free. The company asks anyone interested in having more than two scans reviewed to contact the team.

At the moment, the service only supports analysis of CT scans. Future plans include developing the AI’s capabilities for handling other types of images. Technology is improving healthcare in a number of ways, including making it more accessible and safer. Using a smartphone, patients can now test for anemia without needing to draw blood. And a research team has developed a method for 3D printing multiple doses of medicine in a single capsule. What other aspects of everyday healthcare could use a technology update?