AiSentia - The next generation of contrast-enhanced imaging in computerised tomography (CT)

AiSentia是牛津大学的一个分支机构，由一个世界级的团队组成，提供创新的医疗保健解决方案，支持患者护理。AiSentia的目标是利用人工智能（AI）开发下一代临床成像技术，以支持血管的临床决策。专有的人工智能驱动的软件有能力极大地改变最佳实践，降低医疗成本，同时改善患者的体验和结果。计算机断层扫描（CT）扫描是一种诊断成像程序，使用X射线照射受试者，如人体，以产生受试者目标区域的横截面图像，有时称为“切片”。造影剂的引入有助于将身体的选定区域与周围组织区分开或“对比”，这可以用于诊断特定的病症。然而，对于一些可能需要反复住院的患者来说，反复暴露于X射线是不可取的，并且可能对他们的健康有害。此外，由于碘化造影剂，一些患者还容易出现过敏性休克、糖尿病症状或造影剂诱发的肾病，这限制了医生使用先进成像技术诊断潜在问题的能力。除了患者受益外，碘化造影剂在接下来的24小时内会排入医院厕所或家庭厕所，进入废水。碘很难从废水中去除，对环境有害。AiSentia的目标是消除用于CT成像的碘化造影剂，并通过减少废水系统中释放的生物制药废物量来改善环境。该项目旨在通过开发一种突破性的软件来帮助这些患者，医院和环境，这意味着CTA扫描可以在患者无需注射造影剂的情况下常规使用。一旦开发完成，AiSentia预计将通过开辟新市场，创造有利于英国经济和可持续发展的收入和投资，改善整体患者结局和护理标准，从而产生变革性影响。

AiSentia is a spin-out from the University of Oxford consisting of a world-class team that delivers innovative healthcare solutions that champion patient care.AiSentia's aim is to develop next generation clinical imaging technologies using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support clinical decision-making on blood vessels. The proprietary AI-driven software has the ability to dramatically change best practice, reducing healthcare costs whilst improving the patient's experience and outcomes.A computerised tomography (CT) scan is a diagnostic imaging procedure which uses x-rays impinging on a subject, such as the human body, to produce cross-sectional images, sometimes called 'slices', of a targeted region of the subject. The introduction of a contrast agent helps distinguish or "contrast" selected areas of the body from the surrounding tissue, which can be used to diagnose specific conditions.However, for some patients who may require repeated hospital visits, the repeated exposure to X-rays is undesirable and may be detrimental to their health. Furthermore, some patients are also susceptible to anaphylactic shock, diabetic symptoms, or contrast induced nephropathy due to iodinated contrast which limits the ability for their doctors to use advanced imaging to diagnose potential issues.In addition to the patient benefits, iodinated contrast media are excreted into the hospital toilets or home toilets over the next 24 hours entering the wastewater. Iodine is difficult to remove from the wastewater and is detrimental to the environment. The aim of AiSentia is to eliminate iodinated contrast media for CT imaging and improve the environment by reducing the amount of biopharmaceutical waste released in the wastewater system.This project seeks to help these patients, the hospitals, and the environment by developing a ground-breaking software that means that CTA scans could be used routinely without patients having to be injected with contrast agents.Once developed, AiSentia is expected to improve overall patient outcomes and standard-of-care delivering transformative effects by opening new markets, generating revenues and investment which benefits the UK economy and sustainability.