World leading AI behind innovative X-ray technology

State-of-the-art chest X-ray software developed by Australian scientists will aid practitioners to make more accurate interpretations of medical images, using world-leading artificial intelligence.

Annalise.ai has launched its comprehensive chest X-ray AI solution Annalise CXR, which detects 124 clinical findings and is a decision support tool for radiologists and clinicians.

State-of-the-art chest X-ray software developed by Australian scientists will aid practitioners to make more accurate interpretations of medical images to diagnose some of the most common and life-threatening illnesses, using world-leading artificial intelligence.

The device, called the Annalise CXR, has been found to “significantly” improve radiologists’ ability to read chest X-rays, both when assisted by the device and when it was used on its own, was developed by medical imaging company annalise.ai, a joint venture between Australian healthcare technology company Harrison.ai and international company I – MED Radiology Network

A study into its effectiveness, published in The Lancet Digital Health on Thursday, found that radiologists using the Annalise CXR were significantly more able to perceive 102 chest X-ray findings in a non-clinical environment, were statistically on par for 19 findings and had no drop in accuracy.

The study also assessed the stand-alone performance of the model against radiologists in identifying chest X-rays, finding that it identified 117 out of 124 findings, making it 94 per cent more accurate than an unassisted radiologists, significantly boosting its diagnostic abilities.

Annalise.ai was founded by Sydney-based brothers Dimitry and Aengus Tran, who started the pioneering company together when still in their early 20s, just years after the brothers came to Australia as students.

Dr Aengus Tran, who has already made waves in medical circles through his pioneering use of AI technology in the field of IVF to select the best embryo for treatment, a process called IVY, said he had always believed the world’s greatest challenges could be overcome with robotics.

As a 16-year-old international student, who arrived in Australia to complete his high school education, Dr Tran dreamed of using technology to bring ideas only possible in Sci-fi movies to life.

“When you watch science fiction movies like The Passenger they always have these kinds of machines that have a scan and effectively tell you what is wrong with you,” he said.

“This is the kind of technology that the X-Ray product is offering.”

Annalise CXR clinical lead and chest radiologist Catherine Jones said the advances in technology, which was already being used in practice, were a “game changer” when it came to diagnosing some of the most common illnesses facing Australians.

“The chest X-ray is the most common predominant imaging test around the world,” Dr Jones said.

“It’s used in the emergency setting in trauma, and in less acute settings such as lung cancer, emphysema or the likelihood of tuberculosis or occupational lung disease. Therefore the potential use for the product to improve radiologists performance and patient outcomes is very wide.”

The results of the study also demonstrate how far ahead the Annalise CXR was from comparable software on the market, with just 75 findings found using the next most comprehensive CXR AI product, and many CXR AI products detecting just 15 findings.

The Annalise CXR AI model was trained using more than 800,000 chest X-ray images from across more than 500,000 studies.

The study was conducted using 20 radiologists who each reviewed 2568 CXR studies both with and without the assistance of the Annalise CXR.