ASX medtechs at the forefront of precision, safety and efficiency in healthcare

Several ASX-listed medtech companies are delivering technologies that enhance clinical precision, safety, and efficiency in healthcare.

Several ASX medtechs are improving outcomes and healthcare value. Pic via Getty Images

• Certain ASX-listed medtech companies are delivering technologies that enhance clinical precision, safety and efficiency in healthcare

• For example, Imricor is pioneering cardiac ablations using MRI instead of traditional x-ray fluoroscopy to treat  arrhythmias faster and safer

• And Singular Health’s 3Dicom technology is helping reduce duplicate scans, cutting costs and minimising risks of over-imaging

As the medical world strives to diagnose disease earlier for better outcomes, treat conditions more precisely and increase efficiency while reducing healthcare costs, ASX-listed medtech companies are delivering technologies that enhance clinical precision, safety and efficiency.

From early detection of coronary disease, or reducing exposure to radiation for patients and medical staff by replacing x-ray with MRI in cardiac ablation procedures, these medtechs are improving outcomes while delivering greater value through advanced clinical workflows and cost-efficient care.

Morgans healthcare analyst Iain Wilkie told Stockhead that the "golden child" of ASX medtechs ProMedicus (ASX:PME) was a prime example of the innovation and AI-driven advancements that make local companies in the sector so attractive.

Pro Medicus is a global provider of radiology IT software for hospitals, imaging centres and healthcare networks with its flagship Visage platform delivering ultra-fast imaging and advanced visualisation tools, enabling radiologists to interpret scans remotely – even on mobile devices.

"I see Pro Medicus as the best company on the ASX and they have barely put a foot wrong," Wilkie said.

"On a valuation basis it's still expensive, but that’s been the case for a number of years already and if you're growing 30% year-on-year it doesn't take long to get to a normal valuation.

"Key here though is picking it up on weakness, which, coming down from almost $300 to now around $200 is a reasonable entry point and what we have been waiting for a while.

'Like the baby brother' of Pro Medicus

Described by Wilkie as "like the baby brother" of Pro Medicus,  Mach7 Technologies (ASX:M7T) aims to improve the efficiency and workflow for radiologists, other clinical staff and healthcare organisations with its medical imaging software solutions,

Mach7's enterprise imaging solution comprises enterprise data management, enterprise diagnostic viewing and departmental workflow applications.

The company’s enterprise data management solution consists of a vendor neutral archive (VNA) and data administration tools to enable for the fast storage, access, retrieval and viewing of images across a healthcare network with connectivity to the cloud.

Its eUnity enterprise diagnostic viewing technology is an image-viewing solution that makes images accessible on any workstation.

Mach7 recently announced the head of formerly ASX-listed Volpara Health Technologies, a leader in medical software for breast cancer screening, had been appointed managing director and CEO.

Volpara was acquired by South Korean-based provider of AI-powered solutions for cancer diagnostics and therapeutics Lunit in May 2024 for $292 million.

Imricor replaces x-ray with MRI for cardiac ablations

Imricor Medical Systems (ASX:IMR) is pioneering real-time interventional cardiac MRI (iCMR) ablations – using MRI instead of traditional x-ray fluoroscopy to treat cardiac arrhythmias faster, safer and more effectively.

Cardiac ablations, a procedure that targets and destroys heart cells causing arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats), currently use x-ray fluoroscopy.

While effective in visualising hard structures such as ribs, x-ray struggles with soft tissue like the heart, leading to long-term lower success rates, often below 50%, and requiring repeat procedures.

Imricor said its MRI-compatible devices for cardiac ablations offer superior ability to visualise the heart and blood vessels,  leading to better outcomes, while also reducing exposure of patients and medical staff to radiation.

The company is currently undertaking its Vision-MR Ablation of Atrial Flutter (VISABL-AFL) pivotal clinical trial supporting US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of its products, which it hopes to achieve in 2025.

In Europe, where the company has already received regulatory approval for atrial flutter, Imricor recently started its pivotal VISABL-VT clinical trial for its second indication, ventricular tachycardia (VT) and has achieved several world-firsts.

"Even though it's the same price as existing standard of care, the theory is MRI-guided ablations can improve procedure times so doctors can treat more people per day, with comparable or better patient outcomes (more accurate and durable therapy), and with no radiation," Wilkie said.

Singular Health is reducing need for duplicate imaging

Singular Health Group Ltd (ASX:SHG) is improving efficiency in health imaging, reducing duplicate scans to save costs but also reduce risks of over-imaging with its 3Dicom technology.

A study published this month looked at how many future cancers could result from radiation exposure from annual computed tomography (CT) examinations in the US.

The findings suggested that low levels of ionising radiation from CT scans could account for 5% of all new cancer diagnoses in the US.

"Every unnecessary CT scan avoided is one less dose of radiation, one less cancer risk, one more patient protected," Singular Health co-founder and CEO Denning Chong said.

"Singular Health is building the tools to make that possible – integrating imaging data, empowering clinicians with 3D visualisation, and cutting out waste in a system that desperately needs it."

FDA-cleared 3Dicom translates and converts MRIs, CT and PET scans into 3D or virtual reality and extended reality (VR-XR) models.

But where Singular Health sees real commercial opportunity is in the viewing, sending, storing and AI analysis of the images for patients and hospitals, managed service organisations and health plans.

Singular Health’s 3Dicom solution provides the infrastructure to facilitate the use of AI models available in the marketplace on images in transit, to provide stakeholders with more accurate analysis, resulting in reducing misdiagnosis and increasing rates of pre diagnosis.

Chong said that in the US in particular, the need to extract better value from images and reduce duplicate imaging costs was critical.

The 3Dicom Gateway solution gives each stakeholder standardised viewing, image access, and AI analysis during transit — capabilities they previously lacked.

"We are absolutely committed to provide our 3Dicom Gateway solution to not only reduce the unnecessary cost and burden of duplicate imaging, but also to reduce risks to patients such as cancer risks by reducing the need for an unnecessary scan," Chong said.

"Even one patient protected is worth the effort."

Imagion transforming cancer diagnosis

Through its MagSense platform, Imagion Biosystems (ASX:IBX) is aiming to transform cancer diagnosis by introducing molecular imaging to widely available magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Executive chairman Robert Proulx said MagSense had the potential to improve on current techniques for cancer diagnosis such as x-rays, conventional MRI, CT, ultrasounds and positron emission tomography (PET) by providing a more specific and personalised approach.

The MagSense imaging platform involves the use of iron oxide nanoparticles labelled with cancer-specific targeting antibodies, which can then be imaged with MRI.

The company is pursuing initial indication in HER2+ breast cancer staging – a form of cancer known to be highly aggressive – with pipeline candidates for prostate and ovarian cancers.

"Accuracy or specificity is the big play here and today we have multiple ways of imaging the body and they are all able to find anatomical anomalies," he said.

"But they can't tell if these anomalies are a malignant tumour or a benign mass and that is the problem we are trying to solve with our MagSense imaging agent."

Proulx said the MagSense particles add specificity so when it shows up on an MRI you know it's there because of the targeting molecules binding to a certain type of tumour.

"You have the normal aspect of an MRI with anatomical imaging showing something is unusual in size and shape but also added benefit of the presence of our particle actually showing there are cancer cells because they are bound by the targeting molecule," he said.

Imagion recently announced its plans to take the MagSense HER2 breast-cancer imaging agent into a phase II study to be proposed to the FDA in an Investigational New Drug application.

Listen to Health Kick Podcast: Imagion’s cancer imaging alternative

Atrya using AI to diagnose coronary artery disease

Artrya (ASX:AYA) is using the power of AI for "fast, accurate and non-invasive assessment of coronary artery disease to drive precision medicine, reducing time and costs, and save lives".

In March, Artyra received FDA 510(k) clearance for its flagship platform, Salix Coronary Anatomy (SCA), which analyses coronary CT angiography (CCTA) scans and provides the clinician with accurate, real-time information on the existence and extent of high-risk plaque in the arteries – the main cause of death.

CEO Mathew Regan said SCA was the first point-of-care approach in 50 years for assessing coronary artery disease, the world’s leading cause of death.

"For decades, heart disease has been treated reactively, waiting for symptoms to appear before taking action," he said in an ASX announcement. 

"With FDA clearance of Salix Coronary Anatomy, hospitals and clinics can now move beyond traditional diagnostics to a truly proactive approach."

With someone in the US suffering a heart attack every 40 seconds, the company forecasts the US market opportunity to be significant,  based on 4.4 million CCTA scans annually, and projected to grow at 6.2% per year.

Following FDA clearance of the SCA platform Artrya has two further upcoming product submissions including for Salix Coronary Plaque and then Salix Coronary Flow.

The company anticipates FDA clearance for both products by the end of 2025, unlocking access to two distinct reimbursement codes for detailed plaque and blood flow analysis in the US healthcare market.

The views, information, or opinions expressed in the interview in this article are solely those of the interviewee and do not represent the views of Stockhead.

Stockhead has not provided, endorsed or otherwise assumed responsibility for any financial product advice contained in this article.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Imricor, Singular Health and Imagion Biosystems are Stockhead advertisers, the companies did not sponsor this article.

Disclosure: The journalist held shares in Mach7 Technologies at the time of writing this article. 

Originally published as ASX medtechs at the forefront of precision, safety and efficiency in healthcare