Mumbai based imaging Artificial Intelligence (AI) provider Qure.ai got The US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) clearance for its head CT scan product 'qER'.

qER can be used for triage radiology scans with intracranial bleeds, mass effect, midline shift, and cranial fractures. In these two functions, cranial fractures and midline shift – are exclusive qER. Thus the newly cleared AI-based suite could be used to triage nearly all critical abnormalities visible on routine head CT scans. The product has been used at many hospitals and teleradiology providers globally.

"Doctors need to weigh the benefits of a potentially life-saving surgery versus the risks of an intracranial bleed or other complication every day. The sooner they have in-depth knowledge that helps them make that decision, the better for the patient,” said Pooja Rao, Co-founder and R&D head, Qure.ai. “This is where qER plays a key role. We wanted to offer a complete solution to the clinicians, rather than a partial one that triages on the basis of limited or even single findings."

In the US alone, over 75 million CT scans are conducted every year. But over 10,000 people die within 7 days of an emergency room discharge. Thus there is a clear need for a complete and high-quality imaging AI tool to assist healthcare providers with prioritisation and image analysis.

"Our target turnaround time for emergent studies is 30 minutes but using AI for severely critical conditions enables us to shorten that time. For conditions such as intracranial haemorrhage, time is of the essence and those precious minutes can be life-changing for our patients,” says Benjamin W. Strong, MD, Chief Medical Officer of vRad, one of the leading teleradiology services providers in the United States. “We have one validation for qER and will continue to partner with Qure.ai. This will improve care for our patients." The qER suite plugs directly into the radiology workflow and prioritizes crucial cases on the worklist. This triage reduces the time taken to open critical scans, so those with time-sensitive abnormalities get to be read and reported faster, leading to better patient outcomes.

The company’s other AI base tools are a CE-marked chest X-ray AI tool qXR, and COVID-19 progression monitoring solutions for chest X-rays.