Machine Learning for Medical Imaging

1. Goldman Sachs-backed imaging startup partners with MIT, Harvard for machine learning
[April 25, 2016]
Medical imaging is expected to be one of the early useful applications of artificial intelligence and
machine learning in healthcare.
And a slew of deals have been built around that premise in the last year or so--IBM Watson Health bought
cloud-based imaging company Merge for $1 billion; Philips partnered with Hitachi to incorporate AI into its
image management; and GE added deep learning software from startup Arterys to its cardiac imaging.
Now, another major cloud-based imaging startup is working to incorporate machine learning, first into X-ray
analysis and eventually into other imaging modalities including CT and MRI. The Goldman Sachs-backed
startup Imaging Advantage, which reportedly tapped into up to $250 million in debt in January 2015, has
partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well as Harvard Medical School and
Massachusetts General Hospital to develop an artificial intelligence engine known as Singularity Healthcare.
The result is expected to launch this quarter.
"We have a number of opportunities for research and innovation at MIT, but were particularly intrigued by
the bold initiative proposed by Imaging Advantage," said SP Kothari, a professor of management at MIT's
Sloan School of Management who will lead the project, in a statement. "Given IA's platform approach to
healthcare delivery, national scale and significant imaging data set, and the contribution of Dr. Saini from
MGH, one of the leading global radiology teaching and research institutions, the project is not only
achievable, but also has potential to touch nearly every person in world. This is how we think artificial
intelligence and deep learning should be developed and deployed."
The idea is to incorporate artificial intelligence into existing exam routing technology. It would pre-read
digital X-rays and identify potential areas of injury or disease. The algorithm will be applied ahead of being

2. read by a radiologist, of which Imaging Advantage has 500 for centralized, cloud-based image analysis at
about 400 facilities. The expectation is that the system will continuously learn from conducting this analysis
on images; Imaging Advantage already houses 7 billion images.
"We believe diagnostics is the gateway for the integration of artificial intelligence in healthcare," said
Brian Hall, Imaging Advantage's President and COO. "Once we successfully develop this mechanism for X-
rays, we see the potential to expand the technology to CTs and MRIs, as well as other areas of time
consuming diagnostic testing. The goal is to create a useful tool for radiologists, who are in shortage both
domestically and internationally."
He concluded, "If successful, Singularity will introduce a solution with potential to transform radiology by
providing faster, more accurate and less expensive diagnostic testing."
- here is the announcement
Related Articles:
 IBM to add image management to Watson via $1B buy of Merge
 Philips, Hitachi partner to develop universal, next-gen medical image management
 GE-backed deep learning startup Arterys bumps up Series A to $12M+ as it nears cardio launch, goes
into oncology
 Dell, Zebra Medical offer machine learning algorithms for medical image analysis
 Former Philips Imaging CEO heading machine learning startup to improve stroke diagnosis

3. How MIT and Harvard Are Helping to Bring AI to X-rays
The 9-year-old company Imaging Advantage is creating a machine learning initiative with the
research universities called Singularity Healthcare.
A machine learning initiative called Singularity Healthcare is bringing the expertise of two top U.S. research
universities to bear on developing an intelligent x-ray engine.
The initiative, expected to launch this year, is a partnership between Goldman Sachs–backed Imaging
Advantage (Santa Monica, CA) and faculty members from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and
Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital.
The goal is to create an AI engine that will be incorporated into Imaging Advantage's proprietary exam
routing technology. The idea is for the AI to instantly pre-read digital x-rays, identifying potential areas
of injury and disease. The artificial intelligence will continuously learn from Imaging Advantage's
expanding database of 7 billion images. The algorithm will be applied prior to x-ray images being routed to
one of the 500 board-certified radiologists who are connected via the cloud to Imaging Advantage's
platform.
"Inconsistency in testing and access to care contribute significantly to $1 trillion of waste in the $2.8 trillion
U.S. healthcare industry," Brian Hall, Imaging Advantage's president and chief operating officer, said in
a news release. "If successful, Singularity will introduce a solution with potential to transform radiology by
providing faster, more accurate and less expensive diagnostic testing, representing an indispensable
innovation for radiologists."
Once Singularity Healthcare figures out how to successfully integrate AI into x-Rays, Hall sees potential to
expand the technology to CTs and MRIs, as well as other areas of diagnostic testing. "The goal is to create a
useful tool for radiologists, who are in shortage both domestically and internationally," Hall said.
"Radiologists will continue to be indispensable," he insisted.
AI is a hot area in the medical device space. IBM, for example, spent $1 billion last year to acquire Merge
Healthcare and its imaging technology platform used in thousands of healthcare sights. The deal was

4. described as giving "sight" to IBM's Watson supercomputer, enabling Merge’s customers to use the Watson
Health Cloud to analyze and cross-reference medical images against a deep trove of lab results,
electronic health records, genomic tests, clinical studies, and other health-related data sources.
Stephen Holloway, associate director for IHS Inc., noted last year that AI could prove to be a disruptive
force in the medical imaging space, providing benefits but also raising ethical and legal issues along the
way.
Imaging Advantage Announces Groundbreaking Healthcare Innovation Initiative with MIT
Researchers to Develop Artificial Intelligence X-Ray Engine
Imaging Advantage LLC (IA), the largest platform provider of cloud based radiology service in the United
States, announced today the launch of a machine learning research initiative with leading faculty members
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General
Hospital, titled Singularity Healthcare ®.
Singularity is developing an artificial intelligence engine to be seamlessly incorporated into IA's proprietary
exam routing technology, to instantly pre-read digital x-rays and identify potential areas of injury and
disease, while continuously learning from IA's expanding database of 7 billion images. The algorithm will
be applied before X-Ray images are routed to one of the 500 board certified radiologists connected in the
cloud to IA's platform.
Combining business and academic power, Singularity seeks to provide a widely applicable solution to
problems central to the U.S. healthcare system. X-Ray exams constitute 50% of all radiology tests in
healthcare, and radiology is the significant limiting factor in hospital emergency department patient flow
and treatment.
The initiative brings together leading academicians from two renowned programs at MIT and Harvard. SP
Kothari, PhD, Gordon Y Billard Professor of Management at MIT's Sloan School of Management will lead

5. the project, working in conjunction with Dr.Sanjay Saini, Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical
School and Vice Chairman of Radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) who will advise on
imaging quality and utility to radiologists, and Kalyan Veeramachaneni, PhD, Principal Research Scientist
at MIT's Institute for Data, Systems and Society.
"Inconsistency in testing and access to care contribute significantly to $1 trillion of waste in the $2.8
trillion U.S. healthcare industry," said Brian Hall, Imaging Advantage's President and COO. "If successful,
Singularity will introduce a solution with potential to transform radiology by providing faster, more accurate
and less expensive diagnostic testing, representing an indispensable innovation for radiologists."
Dr. Kothari added, "We have a number of opportunities for research and innovation at MIT, but were
particularly intrigued by the bold initiative proposed by Imaging Advantage. Given IA's platform approach
to healthcare delivery, national scale and significant imaging data set, and the contribution of Dr. Saini from
MGH, one of the leading global radiology teaching and research institutions, the project is not only
achievable, but also has potential to touch nearly every person in world. This is how we think artificial
intelligence and deep learning should be developed and deployed."
"The proposed deep-learning solution combines all layers of machine learning into a single pipeline, and
then optimizes and meshes with other machine-learning algorithms on top of it," said Dr. Kalyan
Veeramachaneni. "Starting this endeavor with the enormous trove of meta data in Imaging Advantage's
archives, we can learn how decisions made at the initial, raw representation stage impact the final predicted
accuracy efficacy."
"We believe diagnostics is the gateway for the integration of artificial intelligence in healthcare," said
Hall. "Once we successfully develop this mechanism for X-Rays, we see the potential to expand the
technology to CTs and MRIs, as well as other areas of time consuming diagnostic testing. The goal is
to create a useful tool for radiologists, who are in shortage both domestically and
internationally. Radiologists will continue to be indispensable."
Singularity Healthcare ® is being launched in Q2 of 2016. According to Dr. Kothari, "Given the advances
in the field of artificial intelligence that have taken place at MIT and elsewhere, and Imaging Advantage's
scale, we are not only optimistic about a successful outcome, but expect it to be realized on an accelerated
schedule."
To learn more about the Singularity Healthcare ® initiative, visit: www.imagingadvantage.com
About Imaging Advantage
Imaging Advantage is the leading platform provider of cloud based radiology, with more than 500
radiologists and 450 facilities across the United States and internationally connected to the IA platform. IA's
customers include every major payor in the United States, and most of the largest healthcare systems,
including the Department of Veterans Affairs. IA also provides its proprietary technology to the US
Department of Defense. Learn more at http://www.imagingadvantage.com.