Israel’s Zebra gets Europe nod for AI-tech that finds brain bleeds, gas in chest
The technology reduces the time it takes radiologists and ER staff to spot acute conditions in scans and X-rays by 80%, kibbutz-based startup says
Shoshanna Solomon was The Times of Israel's Startups and Business reporter
Zebra Medical Vision, a startup that uses artificial intelligence technology to help read medical scans, said it has received a nod from European health regulators to start marketing two of its technologies that will help speed up the diagnosis of acute conditions.
The startup said that it has received European CE certification for its technology that can flag cases such as pneumothorax, the presence of gas in the space between the lung and the chest wall, in chest X-rays, and brain bleeds in CT scans.
The two technologies reduce the time it takes radiologists and ER staff to spot acute conditions by 80 percent, the company said in a statement. This speed, in turn, improves the quality and timeliness of treatment.
Earlier this month the startup, based in Kibbutz Shefayim and founded in 2014 by Eyal Toledano, Eyal Gura, and Elad Benjamin, said it received grants from the Israeli Innovation Authority to deploy its technology at health providers.
Without prompt management, pneumothorax can lead to total lung collapse and other potentially fatal complications. It can be spontaneous or caused by underlying lung disease, trauma, or complications from biopsies or surgical procedures.
Stroke is the fifth-leading cause of death in the United States, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Intracranial hemorrhage is responsible for some 10% of all strokes in the US.
Brain bleeds can strike people of any age, depending upon the cause. Although cerebral hemorrhage and hemorrhagic stroke are most commonly associated with older adults, they can also occur in children.
“In a clinical validation study we performed, Zebra-med’s acute CXR pneumothorax and CT Brain bleed products demonstrated a promising potential to substantially reduce turn-around time and increase the radiologist’s confidence in making these diagnoses” said Dr. Terry Matalon, chairman of diagnostic radiology at Albert Einstein Medical Center, in the statement.
Last year, Zebra received eight CE marks for various algorithms and FDA clearance for its Coronary Calcium Scoring algorithm, allowing the company to expand its presence in the US. To date, Zebra has raised over $50 million from investors in three funding rounds.
