Artificial intelligence may soon be powering ultrasounds.

What’s happening:

• Multiple startups have recently emerged who are using artificial intelligence to power new prenatal screening technology
• California based startup BioticsAI recently raised a pre seed round from Techstars Boston and Blackbird Ventures to advance clinical research around using AI to screen for issues in the second trimester of a pregnancy
• Bill Gates’s family foundation has backed GE Healthcare with a $44M grant for their leading edge, hand held ultrasound screening device that is powered by AI

Why it matters:

• Ultrasound machines are very physically cumbersome and also very expensive which often prevents accessibility in developing countries
• Building a new technology and devices that are both small and economically inexpensive could transform how pregnancies are monitored and screened globally
• Misdiagnosis for fetal malformations happens very frequently even in the United States and Europe

Going deeper:

• The ultrasound device from GE Healthcare, which recently spun out from General Electric, comes from their acquisition of Caption Health
• Caption Health’s mission is to bring their ultrasound technology to low to middle income countries where pregnancy screening is often lacking or difficult to access
• Caption Health has been cleared by the FDA for their AI guided imaging software‍

The intrigue:

• One of the notable breakthroughs of Caption’s device is that any healthcare provider can use their device technology regardless of if they have any experience or not with ultrasounds
• Artificial intelligence can actually guide the healthcare provider on how to use the device, what images to capture from the screening and provide real time insights on how to interpret the data