Startups Cash in on Artificial Intelligence for Medical Imaging as Industry Shifts

A boom in the artificial intelligence-enabled medical imaging market is seeding startups with millions of investment dollars and changing the radiology industry significantly. New growth expectations for the artificial intelligence (AI) medical imaging market predict a compounded annual growth rate of over 30% during this decade, while more than 40% of medical students believe that AI poses a threat to the radiology job market.  

A meta-analysis published in Academic Radiology on June 20 looked at 21 studies and found that nearly 80% of medical students believed that AI would revolutionize radiology in the future.

Recent funding and advancements indicate that the AI-enabled future may be closer than expected.  

This week, Flywheel, a medical imaging AI platform, raised $54 million in Series D funding in partnership with NVIDIA’s venture capital arm, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard Enterprises, and other big names. Flywheel’s CEO, Jim Olson, is a seasoned executive leading the company to transform research and workflows throughout the public healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. He will soon be aided by former CEO of Bayer AG and Thermo Fisher Scientific, Marjin Dekkers, who joined the company’s board of directors recently.  

Across the pond, Gleamer announced a massively successful Series B funding round worth €27 million, nearly $30 million in today’s exchange rates. Gleamer serves 650 institutions with AI-powered medical imaging tools and comprehensive diagnostic solutions. Portions of their AI tech are also partly cleared by the FDA as a Class IIa medical device.  

Gradient Health, based out of North Carolina, garnered $2.5 million in a seed round that closed in February. Their technology analyzes medical images using machine learning to build a more accurate artificial intelligence machine for identifying pathologies.  

And a year ago, Qure.ai brought in $40 million in a funding round led by Novo Nordisk subsidiary Novo Holdings. The company’s FDA-approved AI solutions for interpreting CT scans, ultrasounds, and X-rays have the potential to change radiologists’ workflows by reducing the time to diagnosis.   

As smaller companies compete for seed funding, giants like GE, Phillips, and Google are working to cash in on the AI medical imaging market.  

Google Cloud pumped up its medical imaging suite in a press release late last year that discussed the company’s interoperable image storing and data transfer tools. Google’s tool also allows large provider organizations to create cancer prediction algorithms. 

Hardware developers GE Healthcare and Phillips are using their capital to create AI-supported tools that enhance images taken by a radiologist, effectively upgrading the MRI, CT, and X-ray equipment that staff use daily.