Affidea announces first AI partnership with icometrix to improve care for MS patients
Amsterdam, March 1st, 2019: Affidea and icometrix have today announced a strategic partnership to streamline and improve the care of patients with neurological disorders in Europe, with the rollout of a new AI tool for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).
As the leading European provider of advanced diagnostic imaging services, Affidea is starting the collaboration with icometrix with a ground-breaking pilot in four Affidea countries – Italy, Portugal, Switzerland and Serbia. The clinically approved AI software by icometrix ensures accurate and standardised measurements to monitor neurological disorders in clinical practice, resulting in a better prediction of disease progression and response to treatment.
The software will also enable radiologists and neurologists to quickly quantify and track different brain abnormalities on patients' MRI scans using AI. icobrain presents this information in a concise report, including healthy control data, aiding the interpretation and communication of results.
Affidea will implement the new AI tool, known as icobrain ms, to objectively track disease progression in individual multiple sclerosis patients. The new tool will enable neurologists to be more efficient and effective in their diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up resulting in improved patient care.
Giuseppe Recchi, Chief Executive Officer, Affidea, stated on the announcement: "Affidea's vision is to become the premier digital healthcare provider with the most extensive network of medical centers powered by AI. This is why we are delighted to announce this major partnership with icometrix - our first foray into the incredibly exciting new world of AI. This software will allow our extensive network of centers to offer the highest quality and precision in the diagnosis of neurological pathologies to offer our patients the most advanced technology for personalised healthcare. We look forward to implementing this new software for the benefit of our patients and doctors and to working collaboratively with our partners across the healthcare industry to develop the very best clinical solutions for patients all over Europe. Our vision, our digital and clinical capabilities, and our experienced teams across 16 countries provide us with a unique opportunity to significantly improve the delivery of patient care – at a time when they need it most."
Wim Van Hecke, CEO of icometrix, said: "At icometrix, we are very excited about this collaboration with Affidea. Combining Affidea's expertise and network with our icobrain solutions creates many opportunities. Not only will we be able to jointly improve clinical patient care in Europe, but our combined strengths offer a unique setting for real-world studies and clinical trials".
Prof. Rowland Illing, Chief Medical and Digital Strategy Officer of Affidea, who is overseeing the implementation of the new technology in Affidea's centers, added: "Clinical excellence is of paramount importance to Affidea, and this transformative partnership will greatly benefit our patients. icobrain will allow us to offer objective and consistent brain imaging measures across our network. By using AI algorithms for MS patients, we can automatically measure the volume of a patient's brain that defines the progression of the disease – as well as the lesions, their size, and their location. By automating the measurement of lesions, we can substantially reduce the time it takes for neurologists to track the progress of the disease and recommend the best personalised treatment for each patient with MS."
About Affidea Group
Affidea is the leading European provider of diagnostic imaging, outpatient and cancer care services, operating in 16 countries across Europe, with a focus on delivering timely, thorough diagnostics and high-quality treatments by working only with state-of-the-art technology and experienced medical professionals. Affidea works with over 7500 professionals and operates over 1300 diagnosis and cancer care modalities with almost 13 million diagnostic examinations every year. Affidea is the only healthcare provider that sits on the Imaging Board of IMB Watson and also at Microsoft Cloud. Due to its track record for patient safety, Affidea is the most awarded diagnostic imaging provider in Europe by the European Society of Radiology – over 50% of all the centers awarded on the Eurosafe Wall of Stars belong to Affidea.
About icometrix
icometrix (Leuven, Belgium; Chicago, IL, USA) is the world leader in software solutions to obtain clinically meaningful data from brain MRI and CT scans. The fully automated icobrain software has market clearance in the USA, Europe, Japan, Canada, Brazil, India, and Australia. Today, the CE-marked and FDA-cleared icobrain portfolio consists of icobrain ms, icobrain dm and icobrain tbi for MRI and icobrain dm and icobrain tbi for CT, and is used in patients with multiple sclerosis, dementia, and traumatic brain injury. icometrix works with key healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies on the evaluation of drugs for neurological diseases. Please visit icometrix.com for further information.