Canadian Healthcare Technology Logo
  • Issues
    • Current Print Issue
    • Print Archive
  • Advertise
    • Publishing Schedule
    • Circulation
    • Unit Sizes and Rates
    • Mechanical Requirements
    • Electronic Advertising
    • White Papers
  • Subscribe
    • Print Edition
    • e-Messenger
    • White Papers
  • Events
  • Vendors
  • About Us

GE [April2023]

GE [April2023]

Enovacom EPC

Enovacom EPC

Diagnostics

AI makes thyroid ultrasounds faster, easier

June 16, 2021


Jacob JaremkoEDMONTON – A University of Alberta spinoff company has received FDA approval for an artificial intelligence tool that could revolutionize thyroid ultrasounds. The company is also seeking Health Canada approval, to make the procedure faster and easier for thousands of Canadians who undergo it each year.

MEDO.ai, with offices in Edmonton and Singapore, received approval last month from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its thyroid ultrasound technology.

“This is our crucial first approval. We will be seeking additional approvals in Europe, Canada and worldwide,” said MEDO co-founder Jacob Jaremko (pictured), associate professor in the Department of Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging, who started the company in 2018 along with Dornoosh Zonoobi, a former post-doctoral fellow at the U of A and research fellow with Alberta Innovates, and Jeevesh Kapur, a radiologist from Singapore.

The MEDO-Thyroid tool, the first of its kind in the world, starts with an ultrasound sweep of the thyroid gland and then uses AI software to analyze the scan results. The company describes the process as “seamless, fast and objective.”

One ultrasound scan is performed for every three Canadians each year, of which three to five per cent are thyroid ultrasounds. Women receive more thyroid ultrasounds than men because they are more likely to have lumps or nodules on the thyroid gland in the neck. Although these nodules are usually benign, they can be malignant, so patients require regular follow-up ultrasounds. An estimated 8,600 Canadians were diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2020.

The current approach is for a sonographer to slide an ultrasound probe from top to bottom and side to side on the neck, taking multiple side-view and transverse-view pictures of the bowtie-shaped thyroid gland, while locating, measuring and characterizing any nodules. The process is time-consuming and the next step – interpretation by the radiologist – is complicated and potentially error-prone.

Jaremko said inconsistency in describing nodules and interpreting ultrasound results can lead to confusion and false negatives or positives. False positives can result in unnecessary biopsies, the next step in determining whether a suspicious nodule might be malignant. False negatives could mean a malignancy isn’t discovered.

“It’s very frustrating because most of the nodules are benign, but occasionally there is a needle-in-a-haystack one that’s malignant,” said Jaremko, who holds the Alberta Health Services Endowed Chair in Diagnostic Imaging at the U of A and is a member of the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute.

MEDO’s software analyzes the videos taken by a sonographer, locating, measuring and characterizing any significant nodules and selecting optimal images for analysis. The system produces a preliminary report, giving a score for each nodule indicating whether it is likely benign or malignant. The radiologist is free to edit the report if they have a different opinion on the findings.

“This will make scanning thyroids much simpler and more reliable, especially in people with complex thyroid glands who need follow-up,” said Jaremko. “We are avoiding confusion, making things simpler, faster and easier for patients and clinicians.”

MEDO is doing an investigational trial of its thyroid ultrasound tool at a Sherwood Park clinic run by MIC Medical Imaging, scanning several patients a day using the software, as well as using conventional ultrasound as a backup. The pilot will continue until the end of June, then Jaremko and his team will analyze the results. If they are comfortable with the findings, they hope to be using the software in all 10 MIC clinics in the Edmonton area by the end of the year.

The company will then begin marketing the system to other radiology groups, starting in Western Canada, as well as busy endocrinology clinics that could use the tool to do their own scans. The Singapore arm of the company hopes to piggyback on the FDA approval to get the go-ahead to roll out the tool there soon. Marketing will also begin in the U.S. and eventually in Europe once approvals are obtained there.

PreviousNext

CHT print [900×150]

CHT print [900x150]

News and Trends

  • Ottawa’s health information demands will benefit patients
  • AI-powered tool on St. Michael’s surgical unit helps to improve care
  • Bots to help doctors reduce time spent on electronic records
  • Bissell Centre uses analytics to better understand client data
  • Canadian team is making ultrasound easier to use
More from the Print Edition

Subscribe

Subscribe

Free of charge to Canadian hospital managers and executives in nursing homes and home-care organizations. Learn More

Follow us on Social Media!

Follow us on Social Media!

Softworks

Softworks

Cdn Institute HCIwest

Cdn Institute HCIwest

Nihi Spring 2023

Nihi Spring 2023

Advertise with us

Advertise with us

Sectra [Feb]

Sectra [Feb]

Change Healthcare [2]

Change Healthcare [2]

Infoway [April2023]

Infoway [April2023]

Zebra [Mar2023]

Zebra [Mar2023]

RealTime

RealTime

CHT print [900×150]

CHT print [900x150]

Advertise with us

Advertise with us

Sectra [Feb]

Sectra [Feb]

Change Healthcare [2]

Change Healthcare [2]

Infoway [April2023]

Infoway [April2023]

Zebra [Mar2023]

Zebra [Mar2023]

RealTime

RealTime

Contact Us

Canadian Healthcare Technology
1118 Centre Street, Suite 207
Thornhill, Ontario, Canada L4J 7R9
Tel: 905-709-2330
Fax: 905-709-2258
info2@canhealth.com

  • Quick Links
    • Current Print Issue
    • Print Archive
    • Events
    • Vendors
    • About Us
  • Advertise
    • Publishing Schedule
    • Circulation
    • Unit Sizes and Rates
    • Mechanical Requirements
    • Electronic Advertising
    • White Papers
  • Subscribe
    • Print Edition
    • e-Messenger
    • White Papers
  • Resources
    • White Papers
    • Writers’ Guidelines
    • Privacy Policy
  • Topics
    • Administrative Solutions
    • Clinical Solutions
    • Companies
    • Continuing Care
    • Diagnostics
    • Education & Training
  •  
    • Electronic Records
    • Government & Policy
    • Infrastructure
    • Innovation
    • People
    • Privacy and Security

© 2023 Canadian Healthcare Technology

The content of Canadian Healthcare Technology is subject to copyright. Reproduction in whole or in part without prior written permission is strictly prohibited. Send all requests for permission to Jerry Zeidenberg, Publisher.

Search Site

Error: Enter a search term

  • Issues
    • Current Print Issue
    • Print Archive
  • Advertise
    • Publishing Schedule
    • Circulation
    • Unit Sizes and Rates
    • Mechanical Requirements
    • Electronic Advertising
    • White Papers
  • Subscribe
    • Print Edition
    • e-Messenger
    • White Papers
  • Events
  • Vendors
  • About Us