Medicalgorithmics, a technology company included in the sWIG80 index, has signed a contract with the Multi-Specialty Hospital SPZOZ in Nowa Sol for the use of VCAST technology in a research project. This is the first contract involving the implementation of the company’s developing technology for the non-invasive diagnosis of coronary artery disease, which uses AI algorithms to automatically detect and analyze coronary stenosis based on computed tomography (CT) scan data of the heart.
VCAST will be used by the hospital in a research project titled “Badanie porównawcze modeli predykcyjnych do analizy zwężenia naczyń wieńcowych” (“Comparative study of predictive models for analyzing coronary stenosis”), which will involve 200 patients. According to the agreement, Medicalgorithmics will provide the hospital with the technology for a period of five years with an option to extend the cooperation. This will allow the hospital to use the VCAST product even after the research project ends for diagnostic procedures for coronary artery disease in patients.
VCAST (Virtual Cardiac Stress Test) is a brand new product category for non-invasive cardiac diagnostics under development by Kardiolytics, a subsidiary of Medicalgorithmics, using AI algorithms to identify and analyze coronary stenosis caused by atherosclerotic plaque. The study involves analyzing cardiac CT scan data, and the AI analysis results in reports containing 3D models with segmentation and reconstruction of coronary vessels to support physicians in the process of diagnosing coronary artery disease.
– The VCAST technology is a tool that allows physicians to diagnose coronary artery disease more quickly and accurately, which will speed up and popularize diagnostics because it offers a completely non-invasive and significantly cheaper, and therefore more accessible, method of diagnosing ischemic heart disease. However, we did not want to wait to implement our technology until all regulatory approvals were obtained. Therefore, we decided to cooperate with selected partners on research projects, which in the next step can be continued, as commercial projects. The hospital in Nowa Sól is the first such partner, and we are in talks with other centers about cooperation in the same model – says Jaroslaw Jerzakowski, Medicalgorithmics board member for operations and sales.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, Kardiolytics began the CE certification process for its VCAST technology in the European Union market. After obtaining this certification, the company plans to start commercializing the solution in Europe and to apply to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration in the US) for approval to market the technology in the US under the so-called 510k procedure.
– We are very excited about the opportunity to work with the Multi-Specialty Hospital in New Sol. We believe that our innovative AI technologies have the potential to significantly improve the quality of coronary artery disease diagnosis. Our goal is to create tools that will allow doctors to make faster and more accurate diagnoses, ultimately saving patients’ lives. We are very pleased that the first medical facility has reached for this solution. We are currently in the final stages of the CE certification process for VCAST technology. We hope that once the CE certification process for VCAST is completed in the European market, the hospital in Nowa Sol will begin using this breakthrough technology on commercial terms. In parallel, we have begun preparations to launch the product registration process with the FDA in the US – says Przemyslaw Tadla, CTO and board member of Medicalgorithmics and CEO at Kardiolytics.
Last September, Medicalgorithmics announced that it had signed a letter of intent with the Diagnostyka Group – the market leader in medical diagnostics in Poland – to use VCAST technology for coronary artery disease testing. The company is also in constant contact with Polish centers and foreign partners who are interested in commercializing VCAST in the markets of European Union countries.