With few newspapers still using film and demand for plates falling as edition numbers dwindle, Japanese vendor Fujifilm is finding new ways to leverage its imaging expertise.
As the company expands its longstanding involvement in healthcare, an Australian technology partner is sharing its AI technology to assist with the use of medical imaging.
The company has been working to transform itself from photographic film manufacturer to one helping resolve social challenges in a number of fields, with Fujifilm Australia taking a role in the introduction of artificial intelligence solutions into healthcare.
Its latest foray is in partnership with Australian-based medical imaging specialists annalise.ai with their CXR Edge solution, a world-leading chest X-ray AI decision-support solution for mobile and fixed X-ray devices.
Fujifilm Australia chief executive Ryuichi Matoba says the company wants to create a society where people can live healthily for longer: “Fujifilm’s AI technology and our new partnership with annalise.ai both play a major role in supporting those goals.”
Fujifilm started supplying X-ray film to the healthcare industry in 1936, and has since expanded with milestones such as the development of a method for digitising X-ray images.
Annalise CXR Edge is a software medical device designed for portable and stationary X-ray devices, intended to assist point-of-care clinicians and radiologists with the interpretation of chest X-rays.
The AI algorithm within the device identifies the presence of the radiological findings and provides a notification of suspected findings in less than ten seconds. Detecting up to 95 clinical findings, it is a comprehensive AI decision-support solution for chest X-rays that is available for mobile and fixed X-ray devices.
A version of annalise.ai’s CXR Edge AI product works with Fujifilm’s X-ray systems, and offers a suite of findings for chest X-rays. “In particular, chest imaging with portable devices is increasing and has an even more important role to play within radiology imaging departments and wards,” says Matoba. “With significantly increased patient volumes clinicians are under pressure to make quicker decisions.”
With the AI solution already seeing results, Fujifilm is sending two AI-equipped mobile X-ray devices to Tonga and Palau as part of a humanitarian response during the pandemic.
Fujifilm says it is working to improve medical accessibility in all countries and regions in the world by introducing medical products and services with AI technologies by 2030. Its medical systems business is making an increasing portion of its global sales, with a target of JPY700 billion (A$7.7 billion) by 2026.
–with Fujifilm Australia