Medtronic & Qure.ai partner to advance stroke management using AI in India

Mumbai: India Medtronic, a wholly owned subsidiary of Medtronic plc has announced a partnership with Qure.ai to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) for advanced stroke management in India.

The partnership combines Medtronic’s leadership in neurosciences with Qure’s AI enabled innovations. The collaboration aims to provide AI solution to comprehensive stroke centers as well as primary stroke centers and establish a hub-and-spoke network which is connected via technology. This network will aid in faster identification, decision making and triaging of stroke patients, thus potentially facilitating better patient outcomes.

Stroke is a medical emergency during which the blood flow is blocked to the brain. In many cases, stroke patients are unable to get the appropriate treatment in time due to lack of symptom awareness and structured patient pathways. In some cases, lack of physician training specific to correctly inferring CT scans can delay referral of the patients to a stroke ready center, increasing the mortality and morbidity of stroke patients.

Qure’s comprehensive set of solutions, qER and the Qure app, are specifically designed to assist clinicians in streamlining the stroke care pathway for patients. qER provides a speedy reading and interpretation of head CT scans along with other vital parameters. All the information is captured in the Qure app which is a platform for communication and brings together multidisciplinary teams from different hospitals. The turnaround time of reading and diagnosing head CT appears to have reduced from ~65 mins to~2 mins using qER as per public records.

“Medtronic is working toward a future where stroke can be diagnosed quickly and treated efficiently to potentially save a patient’s life. Introducing AI will personalize healthcare technology — in real time. We are thrilled to collaborate with Qure.ai to support surgeons in diagnosing and treating stroke by enabling quicker decision-making, streamlining data sharing between two hospitals and in improving efficiencies so that more stroke patients in India can be treated within the critical time window,” saidMichael Blackwell, Vice President & Managing Director, Medtronic India.

Commenting on the partnership, Prashant Warier, CEO & Co-Founder of Qure.aisaid, “Partnering with Medtronic India, we will integrate Qure.ai’s AI-powered neuro-critical solutions suite to detect & manage stroke more effectively. Our cutting-edge technology utilizes advanced algorithms to analyze medical images, so that healthcare providers can make informed decisions with improved diagnostic accuracy and speed. Our collaboration will also enhance operational efficiency in hospitals, optimizing hub-spoke pathways. The partnership with Medtronic is another important pillar in our commitment to utilize the power of AI to enhance patient care and bring equitable healthcare to all”.

In India, nearly 1.8 million patients are affected by stroke each year. Time is of essence in treatment of stroke. Patients can be treated within the golden period of 4.5 hours and in severe cases, up to 24 hours since the onset of symptoms. Supporting these patients from diagnosis to treatment using AI tools can help reduce delays and gaps in management of stroke care, where every minute matters. This would result in efficient referral and treatment for stroke patients at primary and secondary healthcare facilities, especially in a hub and spoke network.