When a soldier is injured on the battlefield, quick decisions are required.
If a lung collapses, the common treatment at this time is to insert a tube between the soldier’s ribs and into his chest. In these situations, it often becomes a guessing game as to whether that painful procedure is the right course of action.
A London startup has developed a solution, along with many others, that has received international recognition and a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Army.
Deep Breathe is a medical technology company based at Western University’s Research Park. They developed a program that can be installed on a mobile phone and uses artificial intelligence (AI) to instantly and accurately interpret the results of lung ultrasound tests in the field.
“Whether it’s a cold, chest pain, or a hospital procedure, the lungs are a common concern. Lungs receive a lot of attention both within and outside of the healthcare system, which is why we’re so keen to use portable ultrasound. And AI will provide this technology to make these insights available to everyone,” said Dr. Rob Arntfield, Founder and CEO of Deep Breathe.
The company was founded in 2020 and has grown to a team of nine people. Deep Breathe was recently ranked highly in a competition involving 150 companies called xTechInternational. This competition is sponsored by the U.S. Army and invites companies to submit their best pitches that provide value to the military.
From left to right: Dr. Rob Arntfield, Dr. Delaney Smith, and Dr. Blake Vanvarro. (Alessio Donnini/CBC News)
“We have defeated companies that take extraordinary efforts. Ultimately, our solution addresses a deadly condition called pneumothorax (collapsed lung) very quickly and saves soldiers’ lives. really caught their attention,” Arntfield said. “The Army’s support means so much to us and our team.”
But Arntfield says it’s not just about saving lives on the battlefield. This technology can be used to diagnose many problems in almost any conceivable setting, especially thanks to its portability.
At Deep Breathe’s office, a portable ultrasound scanner that fits in the palm of a technician’s hand is connected to a phone. The company’s app is loaded onto a mobile phone, scans the staff member’s chest and makes a decision within seconds.
That’s the vision Arntfield and his team want to see deployed wherever possible, whether it’s on the battlefield, in hospitals or in space, and it’s a vision they spent four years carefully crafting. , it is driven by the AI that has taught us.
“AI is really just putting a trained doctor’s brain into a device,” he says.
Demo showing how London tech company uses AI to screen for lung problems
Dr. Rob Arntfield explains how his company Deep Breathe’s AI-powered software works with a portable ultrasound machine to accurately assess whether there is lung damage.
AI is the future of healthcare
Blake VanBerlo is tasked with overseeing efforts to teach AI what it needs to know to effectively and accurately diagnose problems. The process of teaching programs is called machine learning.
“Machine learning allows us to tweak the software until we find a solution that essentially does what we want to do,” VanBerlo said. “What it’s really great at is coming up with solutions to very complex pattern recognition problems, such as image interpretation.”
The app currently rules out the presence of lung collapse with 93% accuracy, but rather than diagnosing exactly what the problem is, it rather rules out the problem and determines when lung collapse is not present. is used to. It is trained by being asked to evaluate images and being told when it is wrong and when it is right.
Vanvarro said the introduction of AI into healthcare is a natural progression when it comes to its effectiveness, especially when it comes to pattern recognition.
“We believe the future of AI in healthcare is very bright. AI capabilities are expanding rapidly. Our ability to evaluate AI systems is getting much better. We believe that the future of AI in healthcare is very bright. “My ability to do things has gotten much better,” he said. .
“I think we are at the beginning of what will ultimately be a large-scale adoption of AI in healthcare.”
The Deep Breathe team in their offices at Western University’s Collip Circle Research Park. (Alessio Donnini/CBC News)
Putting London on the world stage
Delaney Smith is Manager of Data Science Research and Regulatory Affairs at Deep Breathe and joined Arntfield at the xTechInternational competition in Spain.
She said the experience of promoting products and showing off local innovation was a proud experience.
“It was a surreal experience to be able to be a part of something like that and get feedback from people at the top of different areas within such a large organization (the U.S. Department of Defense). “It was,” she said.
“That recognition amplifies what we already knew to be true: technology saves lives, and others want it as much as we do. ”
Deep Breeze’s product is not yet on the market, but Smith hopes to receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration within the next year, and is eyeing approval from Health Canada in the future.
Arntfield said while the company works toward approval, he remains proud of his team, which he calls “amazing,” and the city in which they operate.
“Leveraging the expertise we have locally, both in the medical and technology sectors, has really allowed our dreams to come true in terms of getting this far. And we are still It’s just begun.”
