“Artificial intelligence” is more than a buzzword, it offers medical professionals real added value for their work when intelligently integrated into the workflow. Patients in particular benefit from AI via safer diagnostics. Dedalus HealthCare is also noticing an increasing demand for solutions with AI and has already responded with some in-house developments. “At the same time, however, we are also looking at which of the existing solutions can add value to our portfolio,” says Marcus Muth, Head of Portfolio Management DIIT at Dedalus. For example, the company has partnered with contextflow, a leading provider of artificial intelligence for medical image analysis. “We began in September with a cooperation in which we integrate the SEARCH Lung CT solution directly into the DeepUnity reporting workstation. When the radiologist reports a lung CT, they click a button and can seamlessly continue working with the tool. The results are then automatically transferred to the report,” says Muth, describing the process.
SEARCH Lung CT is a clinical decision support system that detects, visualizes and quantifies lung abnormalities and pulmonary nodules. “Specifically, it provides the location and extent of changes via heatmaps for six image patterns, as well as visualization and measurements of detected lung nodules. In addition, the tool analyzes and classifies 19 image patterns in selected regions, retrieves visually-similar, expert-verified reference cases, and provides relevant links to literature, guidelines, and differential diagnoses,” said Markus Krenn, Chief Product Officer at contextflow, explaining how the software works. A soon-to-be published study shows that average reading time is 31% shorter when contextflow SEARCH Lung CT is available for use. A trend towards improved diagnostic accuracy was also noted, and results hold for both junior and senior radiologists.
“We are pleased to have found an innovative and inspiring partner in contextflow. Its high-quality AI solution expands our portfolio and offers tangible added value to our users,” said Marcus Muth. “The integration works smoothly, and users can profitably apply the software to their diagnostics with just a few mouse clicks. We are looking forward to working with the market leader in the DACH market,” adds Markus Krenn.
The University Hospital of Freiburg and Vienna General Hospital are the first institutions to use the integrated solution.
About Dedalus:
Founded in Florence in 1982 by the current Executive Chairman Giorgio Moretti, Dedalus Group is one of the leading software providers for healthcare and diagnostics in Europe and worldwide. The shareholder structure guarantees stability and great financial strength mainly through the presence of Ardian, the largest private investment company in Europe and the fourth largest in the world. Since 2016, Dedalus has accelerated its expansion strategy, focusing on the growing demand for innovative and comprehensive information, communication and clinical transformation solutions. Today, Dedalus has a strong presence in Germany, Italy, France, the UK and Ireland, Northern Europe, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, China, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and several locations in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, giving it a presence in over 40 countries. Thanks to its undisputed top portfolio of leading-edge, latest-generation IT solutions, Dedalus covers the entire spectrum of healthcare operators, supporting more than 6,000 hospitals and 5,000 laboratories worldwide.
About contextflow:
contextflow is a spin-off of the Medical University of Vienna (MUW) supported by the Vienna University of Technology (TU) and the European research project KHRESMOI, whose goal was to develop a multimodal, multilingual search and recognition system for medical images and documents. Founded by a team of AI and engineering experts in July 2016, the company received the 2016 BCS Search Industry Most Promising Startup Award, the 2017 Digital Innovation Award from the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science & Research, and was selected as one of 19 startups out of over 700 applications for the 2018 Philips HealthWorks Accelerator. The Central European Startup Awards named contextflow Best Healthcare Startup 2019 – Austria, and Forbes DACH listed the company as one of the top AI30 startups for 2020.