New funding and partnerships have enabled Synthesis Health (formerly 1QBit) to accelerate the clinical deployment of The XrAI Project, an artificial intelligence-based radiology tool used in the fight against COVID-19.
Recently certified as a Class III Medical Device by Health Canada, XrAI identifies lung abnormalities on chest x-rays in real-time, allowing clinicians in emergency rooms and rural hospitals to better diagnose COVID-19 and other illnesses such as pneumonia, tuberculosis and lung cancer.
“The trust that 1QBit’s tool has garnered as a result of its rigorous approach is what I believe has led to such a prompt and positive response from the medical community,” says Dr. Paul Babyn, Physician Executive of the Saskatchewan Health Authority, which conducted its clinical trial for XrAI much sooner than originally planned.
Through its COVID-19 program, the Supercluster is helping healthcare authorities to implement XrAI in hospitals and clinics in B.C., Saskatchewan and Ontario. “It’s one thing to make a software tool in a lab, but it’s a completely different thing to bring it into the real world,” says Jaspreet Oberoi, Director of Machine Learning and Quantum-inspired Solutions. “The speed and efficiency of the XrAI deployment was a direct result of the collaboration empowered by the Supercluster.”
With XrAI seeking certification from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Synthesis Health is set to add to its team of more than 120 mathematicians, computer scientists, physicists, chemists, software developers, physicians, biomedical experts and quantum computing specialists. “Deploying the tool in Canada shows that we can replicate it across different global markets,” Oberoi says. “This is opening up opportunities we might not have without Supercluster support.”