Industry news in brief
- 14 July 2023
This Digital Health News industry roundup includes the expansion of Agilio Software’s dental continuing professional development offering, Qure.ai winning a healthy ageing challenge and a national win for an AI-powered heart diagnostic tool.
Prolific raise £25m in Series A funding round
Prolific, an ethical research and AI-training specialist has raised £25m in a Series A funding round, which will be used to help further develop its AI offering.
Prolific’s AI development investment will include further development of the platform’s ability to support AI developers with improving AI models, helping them to avoid issues such as AI inaccuracy, bias and copyright challenges.
It also intends to use the funding to help with the further building of highly specialised research groups that will be accessible via its platform – such as software development teams who can feed back on AI code.
Phelim Bradley, CEO and co-founder of Prolific, said: “AI represents one of the biggest leaps forward in technology in recent years and our unique approach to data sourcing from humans positions us to make these systems more accountable and less biased.
“The funding we have secured will fuel our growth in the AI space, especially in the US, bolstering our commitment to human-guided AI development during this pivotal moment in the technology’s progression.”
The funding was co-led by global tech investment specialist Partech and Oxford Science Enterprises.
Agilio Software expands dental CPD offering
The UK’s largest provider of healthcare operations software, Agilio Software, has enhanced its iLearn platform to boost training capacity for dentists.
The company has added more than 100 new clinical courses, helping to meet all Enhanced Continuous Professional Development needs, from a single source.
iLearn Pro delivers over 175 hours of CPD, with a collection of over 100 courses authored by industry-leading experts.
Existing customers of iLearn will automatically be subscribed to the iLearn Essentials offering, once the new Pro tier is launched. This will allow them to retain the functionality and course library they’ve previously accessed.
Customers can choose to upgrade to iLearn Pro or purchase courses on a Pay As You Go (PAYG) basis to access the additional courses.
Agilio created iLearn Pro as a tailored solution designed to meet the specific requirements of dentists. It gives them a wide array of specialised clinical course aimed at enriching their professional knowledge and skills.
Head of clinical development (dental) at Agilio, Dr David Fraser, said: “iLearn Pro is a significant addition to our dental education ecosystem; it enables clinicians to access an online course library that is greatly diversified, delivered in both traditional and video formats, meaning that people are free to complete their CPD in their own time and in a way that suits their learning style.
“With iLearn Pro, we aim to bridge the gap in clinical education and bring the industry’s entire eCPD efforts under one digital roof, providing dentists with the specialised knowledge they need to excel in their practice and allowing practices to reap significant time and cost savings.”
AI heart disease tool scoops national win
An artificial intelligence (AI) cardiac diagnostic tool has won The Future NHS Award at the NHS Parliamentary Awards Ceremony.
Developed by scientists and clinicians from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and the University of Sheffield’s Insigneo Institute, the tool is helping to speed up heart function assessments and reduce MRI scan reporting times for NHS heart patients.
It delivers a speedy analysis of the heart’s function and automatically performs tasks to measure heart damage seen on MRI images in seconds. The tool automatically segments images to make its analysis and performs mathematical and volumetric tasks, which would otherwise need to be performed manually.
Kirsten Major, chief executive at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The innovative use of AI to help diagnose heart problems is a fantastic example of the transformative skill of the team who developed it and is already enabling clinicians to speed up heart disease diagnosis.
“We are exceptionally proud of the teams both within Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and the University of Sheffield who have worked so hard to bring this technology to the NHS. This is extremely deserving recognition and I would like to thank all the teams involved.”
The awards were held on the 5 July to commemorate the 75th birthday of the NHS. They celebrate the work of NHS staff who have gone above and beyond in their roles.
Qure.ai wins Johnson & Johnson healthy ageing challenge
Qure.ai, a leader in AI-based radiology solutions, has been named as one of the winners of the Japan Smart Health Aging Initiative QuickFire Challenge, organised by Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC in Japan.
Its winning idea focuses on revolutionising stroke diagnosis and treatment, using its AI-based head CT interpretation software, qER. The software is able to detect abnormalities in non-contrast head CT scans as well as identify Large Vessel Occlusion (LVO).
The AI-powered technology aims to triage and flag ischemic stroke patients by detecting core and LVO signs on a scan, helping to reduce the treatment time.
Qure.ai will now be granted access to the Johnson & Johnson – Innovation JLABS @ Shanghai, and receive mentorship from experts within the Johnson & Johnson family. It will also receive a share of the $300,000 grant money alongside the other awardees.
Prashant Warier, CEO and co-founder of Qure.ai, said: “We are honoured to be selected as an awardee and are dedicated to contributing to transforming healthcare in Japan. This mentorship will provide market insights, project opportunities, and network support, enabling us to expand our reach and impact.”
Aide Health joins DigitalHealth.London Accelerator
Aide Health is one of 17 companies that has been selected for DigitalHealth.London’s Accelerator programme, recognising that the company has a digital solution that has high potential to meet London’s NHS and social care challenges.
Aide Health’s digital health platform uses conversational artificial intelligence (AI) to help patients better understand and manage their long-term health condition.
Through the accelerator, Aide Health will gain 12 months of bespoke support and advice, access to a programme of expert-led workshops and events, as well as support in brokering meaningful connections with NHS organisations with specific challenges.
Ian Wharton, founder and CEO of Aide Health, said: “Being accepted onto the prestigious DigitalHealth.London Accelerator cohort is a significant milestone for Aide’s journey.
“Following our successful NHS pilot last year, and recent partnership with Suffolk Primary Care, we are excited for the new opportunities that will come through this programme.”
The DigitalHealth.London Accelerator is now in its 7th consecutive year. It is funded by Health Innovation Network through its Office for Life Sciences funding, as well as its partners. In addition, the programme will receive £185k from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Sara Nelson, programme director, DigitalHealth.London, said: “The application process for this year’s programme was extremely competitive and as such, the final 17 companies truly are the ones to watch in the digital health space. We look forward to working with them over the next year to support the NHS and social care through digital transformation.”
