Gleamer, a provider of AI-based software for radiology, expands its MRI business with two small acquisitions.
Medical imaging is a term that covers a wide range of technologies. After working on AI tools to enhance X rays and mammographies for several years, French startup Gleamer is now tackling magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Gleamer, instead of starting from the ground up, has acquired a startup already working on AI-powered MRI analyses. Caerus Medicalis merging with Pixyl ().
Gleamer belongs to the second wave startups that are trying to improve medical image using artificial intelligence. In 2014 or 2015, several tech founders started startups around this topic. There have been some consolidations in the space, even though most of them failed. Zebra Medical Vision and Arterys, for example, were both acquired. Nanox Tempus– respectively.
Since its founding in 2017, Gleamer is building an AI assistant that can help radiologists. It’s a kind of copilot when it comes to medical imaging. Gleamer allows radiologists to improve diagnostic accuracy in the interpretation of medical images.
This startup has already convinced 2,000 institutions in 45 countries to use their software solution. Gleamer processed 35,000,000 examinations. The company’s bone trauma interpretation product has been certified by FDA and CE. It also offers CE-certified products in Europe that are focused on chest X rays, orthopedics and bone age measurements.
Gleamer CEO Christian Allouche said to TechCrunch that the “one-size-fits all” approach to radiology does not work. It’s difficult to create a large-scale model that covers medical imaging and delivers the performance level expected by doctors.
This is why the company has created small internal teams focusing on mammographies, and CT scans. “Three months ago, we released our mammography software product which we worked on for 18-months,” Allouche said. It’s based upon a proprietary AI-model that has been trained using 1.5 million mammographies.
Allouche said, “We have a partner with Jean Zay – the French government GPU cluster. The company is working on CT scans to detect cancer.
What about MRI? Allouche said that MRI is a completely different technological space. “MRI has many tasks.” It’s not only detection, but you also have segmentation, detection, characterization, classification and multi-sequence images.
This is why Gleamer acquired a small startup, Caerus Medical, and merged with a larger company, Pixyl, to move faster. These two companies have worked in this area for several years. Gleamer won’t disclose the terms of these deals.
Allouche said, “These two companies will be our two MRI platforms with the clear intention of covering all use-cases over the next two or three years.”
Preventive medical images
Gleamerās models are promising, but not perfect. The startup claims that its new mammography model can detect four of five cancers. A human radiologist, without AI assistance, typically detects cancer in 3 out of 5 cases.
The productivity gains from an AI-assisted tool like Gleamer, however, could radically alter medical imaging. A missed tumor will likely show up in a follow-up examination a few months after the initial exam.
Allouche said, “I think in the not too distant future we’ll be all getting routine whole-body MRIs funded by our insurance companies – since they’re non-irradiating.”
In some cities, however, there are not enough radiologists to meet the need for reactive imaging. AI tools will be indispensable if the industry shifts to preventive imaging.
Gleamer CEO believes AI could be used as a tool for “orchestrating and triaging”. Medical imaging examinations are often conducted to rule out certain diagnoses. Allouche said that there was a real need to automate this process with an AI model which is much more sensitive than a person.
Romain is a Senior Journalist at TechCrunch. He has written more than 3,000 articles about technology and tech startups, and has become a prominent voice in the European tech scene. He has a background in startups, privacy and security, fintech blockchain, mobile, social, and media. He has twelve years’ experience at TechCrunch and is one of the familiar faces that cover Silicon Valley and the technology industry. His career began at TechCrunch in 2001, when he was just 21 years old. Many people in the Paris tech ecosystem regard him as the best tech journalist in the city. Romain is known for spotting important startups ahead of others. He was the first to cover N26 Revolut, DigitalOcean. He has covered large acquisitions by Apple, Microsoft, and Snap. Romain is a developer when he’s unable to write. He knows how the technology behind the tech works. He has a thorough understanding of the history of the computer industry over the last 50 years. He is able to make the connection between the impact of innovations on our society and their origin. Romain graduated from Emlyon Business School – a leading French school that specializes in entrepreneurship. He has worked with several non-profits, including StartHer, which promotes the empowerment of women through technology, and Techfugees.
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