IQ-AI Ltd (LSE:IQAI, OTCQB:IQAIF) has signed a data agreement with St Jude Children's Hospital, in Memphis, Tennessee, to support the company brain imaging technology.
The company, in a statement, said the agreement will provide access to imaging biometrics (IB) for paediatric datasets to be used in the development of IB Zero G, its patented, artificial intelligence system.
It comes as IQ-AI advances the towards the submission of an application to the US Food and Drugs Administration for IB Zero G.
It gives IQ-AI access to a wide array of magnetic resonance (MR) datasets acquired in children of all ages. The data is said to be critical for developing and refining AI models, as high quality data will allow the AI to accurately analyze new, incoming, real-world image datasets.
"This agreement will accelerate the development and commercialization of IB Zero G," said IA-AI chief executive Trevor Brown.
"Avoiding the use of GBCAs while preserving the diagnostic quality on paediatric images will help clinicians address concerns relating to GBCA retention and ultimately provide better care."
Gadolinium Based Contrast Agents (GBCAs) have been used in MRI examinations for decades and they have provided invaluable diagnostic information, the company noted, though in 2006 safety concerns were raised due to a causative effect in a condition called nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF).
Awareness of the issue has grown since then, and, IQ-AI noted that whilst long-term adverse side effects are not known, the detrimental concerns for critical periods of life and especially on rapidly developing bone or brain, remain.