Feedback PLC (AIM:FDBK, FRA:GZM), the clinical communications specialist, has announced a collaboration agreement for its Bleepa medical diagnostic app with Qure.ai, an AI solutions provider that uses artificial intelligence to make healthcare more accessible and affordable.
The two companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding under which they will explore the use of Bleepa to access X-rays and other medical imaging studies from multiple care settings, for processing by Qure.ai's AI algorithms and as a vehicle for presenting reports to clinicians.
Feedback said Bleepa will give clinicians access to the Qure.ai product suite through mobile devices, facilitating access to AI interpreted patient imaging from any location on any internet-connected device in minutes.
Qure.ai has a number of products addressing multiple clinical areas. Its qXR technology is capable of automated chest X-ray interpretation and can detect about 30 different abnormal findings on a chest X-ray, including screening of tuberculosis, lung nodules and quantify the progression of lung infection in various conditions such as Covid-19.
Under the partnership, Feedback and Qure.ai plan to evaluate product opportunities in India and the UK, initially focusing on supporting the delivery of TB screening to rural populations in India which rely on chest X-ray images for diagnosis.
Currently, the lack of digital infrastructure in rural areas makes it difficult to get X-rays formally reported by a radiologist. Bleepa can facilitate the upload of the X-ray or in-field images for Qure.ai's technology to assess on the spot. It can also display the AI-generated report to clinicians, so treatment can be given immediately. This combined solution will enable the TB screening programme to expand across disparate locations in India, Feedback said.
Qure.ai has deployments across 45+ countries and processes more than 15,000 scans daily. Qure's qXR is CE marked and the World Health Organisation has endorsed it for TB screening and triage as an alternate of human readers.
Feedback said the companies are also actively looking at opportunities in the UK following Qure.ai's appointment to the NHSx AI Award programme. Given the breadth of capabilities of both products, there are applications for the solutions in a number of care settings, it said.
Dr Tom Oakley, CEO of Feedback, said: "We are delighted to be working with Qure.ai; there are multiple large commercial opportunities and this is only the beginning to forging a pathway for a new global regime of diagnostic testing and screening.
“The combination of Qure.ai's AI reporting capabilities through Bleepa's instant and secure communications platform has the potential to provide timely, efficient and cost-effective care across a number of clinical settings.
“Although we are looking at India initially, Qure.ai are a great partner and their technologies hold just as much benefit here in the UK and we are excited to explore a number of opportunities for the technologies within the NHS and UK private market."
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