Kitware to Develop AI-Powered Ultrasound that Can More Accurately Detect Congenital Heart Disease
Kitware has partnered with Johns Hopkins University to create the next generation of echocardiography that can autonomously screen newborns for congenital heart disease
Clifton Park, N.Y. (October 15, 2024) – Kitware, a leader in innovative medical software, is developing the next generation of echocardiography that uses autonomous ultrasound scanning and artificial intelligence to diagnose congenital heart diseases (CHD) in newborns.
Clinical practices miss 75% of major heart diseases in prenatal ultrasound imaging and nearly half in postnatal pulse oximetry screenings. Echocardiography would drastically improve clinicians’ ability to detect CHD, but the current technology has too many barriers to make it practical for routine screenings.
Kitware’s team aims to improve this by creating a rapid and accurate echocardiogram through AI-assisted probe placement, autonomous scanning, and CHD identification. This would make it feasible to use echocardiography as a routine screening tool while reducing the clinical workload.
“We are thrilled to leverage our expertise in AI and ultrasound technology to better facilitate early detection of congenital heart diseases,” said Andinet Enquobahrie, Ph.D., senior director of medical computing at Kitware and principal investigator for this project. “By making echocardiography a routine screening tool, we aim to improve diagnostic accuracy and support healthcare providers in delivering better outcomes for newborns.
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) has selected Kitware to lead this initiative with a three-year, $3.5M contract. Kitware’s team includes experts from Johns Hopkins University who have extensive knowledge in biomedical devices and pediatric medicine.
This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. 75N91024C00020.
About Kitware
Kitware delivers innovation. As a software research and development company, Kitware solves the world’s most complex scientific challenges using custom software solutions built on open source technology. Kitware’s team includes experts in scientific visualization, medical imaging, and computer vision. Since its founding in 1998, Kitware has developed a reputation for its unparalleled technical expertise and excellent customer service. The company is proud to be 100% employee-owned. For more information, visit kitware.com or follow them on Twitter and LinkedIn.