NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, UK, and Assuta Medical Centers, Israel, choose to partner with Storm ID and Zebra Medical Vision for early detection of osteoporosis through AI based models under EUREKA framework
Scottish digital transformation consultancy Storm ID and Israeli AI start-up Zebra Medical Vision have won a UK-Israel research and development competition with a proposal for a revolutionary, machine learning-driven model for early detection and prevention of osteoporosis to improve patient care and reduce healthcare costs. The collaboration will involve close engagement with clinical teams in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Assuta Medical Centers.
Osteoporosis is a major public health concern that continues to grow in worldwide importance. Fragility fractures, defined as insufficiency fractures not related to high-impact trauma, are the major complication of this underdiagnosed and undertreated condition. Major osteoporotic fractures result in substantial morbidity and mortality, particularly for hip fractures, which is a major concern for an aging population.
Working in partnership, Storm ID and Zebra Medical Vision are developing a preventative care solution to identify people at risk of osteoporosis. Using ML/AI methodologies, the solution will analyze medical imaging data and patient records to help clinical teams identify and treat people with risk of fractures before they happen.
An international, multidisciplinary team of clinicians, data scientists and computer scientists will work together over 2 years, running clinical trials, implementing the solution in both NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Assuta Medical Centers. The project is co-funded in part by the UK and Israel under the EUREKA framework to foster industrial research collaboration between the UK and Israel.
Paul McGinness, Director at Storm ID said: “We’re aiming to combine the powerful data exchange capabilities of our own Lenus Health Platform with the machine learning models developed by Zebra Medical Vision to transform osteoporosis screening. By predicting ahead of time the potential risk of bone fracture , we can intervene earlier to treat and manage the risk, which is better for the patient and for the health system.”
Ohad Arazi, CEO at Zebra Medical Vision said: “We’re honored to enhance our collaboration with the NHS and Assuta Medical hospital through this incredible initiative, allowing Zebra Med’s solutions to even more widely spread in the UK and Israeli healthcare facilities to bring earlier identification and treatment of patients at risk of a break, which in turn will help healthcare payers and providers.”
David Lowe, Emergency Consultant, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and Clinical Lead, West of Scotland Innovation Hub, said: “We are pleased to partner on the development of this innovative new solution for osteoporosis patients through the expertise of the West of Scotland Innovation Hub. This is another example of a successful collaboration between industry and the NHS to move forward innovative healthcare. Our clinical teams at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde will support the aim of this project to ultimately identify and treat patients with increased risk of bone breakage before it happens.”
Dr. Michal Guindy, Head of Imaging and Innovation at Assuta said: “Being able to re-analyze information from patient records and imaging is an important advantage of modern artificial intelligence. As a center of excellence, performing over 200,000 CTs annually, Assuta is excited to play a significant role in early detection of osteoporosis. By analyzing studies that were done for other clinical indications, we can leverage pre-existing data to help prevent fractures and contribute to solving a public health challenge of growing concern.
