A Toronto startup founded by two radiologists recently completed a pilot project with Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center on an artificial intelligence (AI) radiology assistant that uses routine X-ray images to identify patients at risk for osteoporosis.
“The problem we are trying to solve is the underdiagnosis of this widespread disease,” Dr. Mark Cicero, co-founder of 16 Bit in 2016 with Dr. Alex Bilbily, said in a statement. “We know we can treat osteoporosis if we detect it, but this usually only happens after a fracture because detection rates are very low. »
To combat this problem, 16 Bit launched Rho, an AI radiology assistant capable of identifying low bone mineral density in up to 80% of X-ray images.
The company just completed a project with Sunnybrook Hospital to advance innovation, which can screen anyone over the age of 50 who has a routine X-ray for another medical reason.
“The idea is to raise the flag so the referring clinician can follow up with that patient, talk to them about osteoporosis risk factors, and if appropriate, recommend additional testing such as a DXA scan,” Bilbily said, who is also a radiologist at Sunnybrook. in a press release, noting that early intervention leads to fewer fractures and reduces long-term health care costs. “Usually, AI is seen as an advantage. We believe this is essential because if we want a sustainable health care system in Canada, we must take advantage of approaches like this that maintain or improve care while reducing costs to our system.
Through national non-profit Mitacs, 16 Bit hired Sarthak Narayan and Abdur Rahman, international master’s students in applied computer science from the University of Toronto, to design and implement a cloud version of Rho which can easily scale as the company begins to commercialize the technology.
“It is very difficult these days to compete with large technology companies for specialized talent,” Cicero said in the release. “Working with Mitacs allows us to attract top talent while they are still in school. We benefit from students’ cutting-edge learning and they benefit from our mentoring and entrepreneurial advice so that together we can develop a highly impactful product.
The Sunnybrook project, which began in early 2023, involved radiologists at the hospital regularly using the AI’s osteoporosis screening tool, which identified 572 patients at risk of osteoporosis on more than 1,000 x-rays examined.
Lisa Di Prospero, director of practice-based research and innovation at Sunnybrook Hospital, left with Dr. Mark Cicero, co-founder and co-CEO of Toronto startup 16 Bit. The company launched Rho, an AI radiology assistant that uses routine X-ray images to identify patients at risk of osteoporosis. The innovation was used at Sunnybrook in a recently completed project.
Lisa Di Prospero, director of practice-based research and innovation at Sunnybrook, said screening results were noted in radiologists’ reports, which were then sent to referring physicians. “It allows the referring doctor to then have a conversation with the patient,” she said in an interview.
Di Prospero said technology enables a preventative approach to healthcare, allowing patients to take ownership of their own health. “As part of the project, we also conducted patient surveys asking them what they thought of the tool… and they were all very positive about it.”
The project aimed to answer: should this type of software be integrated within the hospital system? “And from all the results that we got, and talking to the clinicians who were using it and the patients who were using it, it’s yes, we should actually buy it and we should have it as a practice regular in the future for all patients who come to Sunnybrook for x-rays,” said Di Prospero.
Bilbily said one of the biggest obstacles his team has to overcome is the social barrier. “This is a new type of tool,” he said. “How will patients receive Rho? How will doctors receive Rho?
But Bilbily noted that the AI movement would not happen. “It’s here.”
