Feedback plc

Feedback enters into Memorandum of Understanding with Qure.ai

·      Partnership to assess technical collaboration between Bleepa and Qure.ai technologies

·      Qure.ai is a specialist in AI-powered radiology solutions

·      Early exploration of joint solution for TB screening in India, Africa and South-East Asia

London, 14 September 2021: Feedback plc (AIM: FDBK, "Feedback" or the "Company"), the specialist clinical communication company, announces that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding ("MoU") with Qure.ai, an AI solution provider developing decision support tools for medical imaging professionals.

Pursuant to the agreement, Qure.ai and Feedback will explore the use of Bleepa as a digital infrastructure partner to access X-rays and other medical imaging studies from multiple care settings, for processing by Qure.ai's AI algorithms, and as a vehicle for presenting the report generated back to clinicians. Bleepa will enable truly on-the-go access to the Qure.ai product suite through a clinician's own mobile devices, facilitating access to AI interpreted patient imaging from any location on any internet-connected device in under a few minutes.

Qure.ai uses artificial intelligence to make healthcare more accessible and affordable and has a number of products addressing multiple clinical areas. Qure.ai's qXR technology is capable of automated chest X-ray interpretation to help radiologists read X-rays in a faster and more accurate way. It can detect about 30 different abnormal findings on a chest X-ray, including screening of tuberculosis, lung nodules and quantify the progression of lung infection in various conditions such as Covid-19. Qure.ai additionally has AI tools like the qER relating to cross-sectional imaging which interprets head CT scans for triaging and early diagnosis of stroke and traumatic brain injuries.

The partnership will evaluate product opportunities in multiple care settings both in India and the UK. An initial focus for the partnership is to support the delivery of TB screening to rural populations within India which rely on chest X-ray images for diagnosis. Currently, in rural settings it is difficult to get X-rays formally reported by a radiologist because there is no digital infrastructure to enable image sharing. Bleepa can facilitate the upload of the X-ray or in-field images for Qure.ai's technology to assess on the spot. It can also display the AI-generated report to clinicians, enabling treatment to be given immediately and within the same appointment, even in rural settings. This combined solution will enable the TB screening programme to expand across disparate locations in India.

Qure.ai has deployments across 45+ countries and processes more than 15,000 scans daily. Qure's qXR is CE marked and the World Health Organisation has endorsed it for TB screening and triage as an alternate of human readers.

The companies are also actively looking at opportunities in the UK following Qure.ai's appointment to the NHSx AI Award programme. Given the breadth of capabilities of both products, there are applications for the solutions in multiple care settings.

Dr Tom Oakley, CEO of Feedback, said:   

"We are delighted to be working with Qure.ai; there are multiple large commercial opportunities and this is only the beginning to forging a pathway for a new global regime of diagnostic testing and screening. The combination of Qure.ai's AI reporting capabilities through Bleepa's instant and secure communications platform has the potential to provide timely, efficient and cost-effective care across a number of clinical settings. The companies are particularly excited to be working on screening for TB and to help deliver this to even the remotest of locations.  We have the potential here to build true access to healthcare for all in India. Although we are looking at India initially, Qure.ai are a great partner and their technologies hold just as much benefit here in the UK and we are excited to explore a number of opportunities for the technologies within the NHS and UK private market. "

Prashant Warier, CEO and co-founder of Qure.ai, said:

"We're happy to partner with Feedback to enable remote and secure communications between frontline clinicians and their teams. Together, our solutions help improve coordination and communication to deliver quality diagnosis. Apart from TB, our technology detects 29 other abnormalities on chest X-rays. We plan to expand our offerings to the UK and other parts of the world to improve lung health diagnosis.

-Ends-

Enquiries:

Notes to Editors

Feedback plc (AIM: FDBK) is a pioneer of regulated clinical communication products. Its core product, Bleepa, is a revolutionary medical imaging communications app, providing an easy-to-use, high quality tool to enable remote and secure communications between front-line clinicians and teams. Importantly, it is the only CE marked medical imaging communications platform on the NHSx clinical communications tools framework. Bleepa has unparalleled functionality for everyday practice and can be accessed from any internet-connected device, enabling control of patient cases when on the go. 

Its highly scalable Software as a Service ("SaaS") based revenue model will provide increasing levels of visibility as the Company grows its customer base. With a growing distribution base and technology in place, the focus is on leveraging key relationships in order to drive sales both in the UK and internationally to all forms of care providers. As a fully certified medical device, Bleepa aims to disrupt the medical imaging communications market and, importantly, increase the accuracy and speed of clinical review.

About Qure.ai

Qure.ai is a breakthrough Artificial Intelligence (AI) solution provider that is disrupting the radiology 'status quo' by enhancing imaging accuracy and improving health outcomes with the assistance of machine-supported tools. Qure.ai taps deep learning technology to provide automated interpretation of radiology exams like X-rays, CTs and MRI scans for time and resource-strapped medical imaging professionals-enabling faster diagnosis and speed to treatment. Qure.ai is helping to make healthcare more accessible and affordable to patients worldwide.

Qure.ai technologies have received both FDA clearance and CE marking.

About TB:

TB is an ancient disease that has affected mankind for more than 4,000 years.  It is a chronic disease caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis and spreads from person to person through air.  TB usually affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body, such as brain, intestines, kidneys, or the spine.  TB remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries, accounting for 7% of all deaths. It is the first infectious disease declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a global health emergency and in 2007, it was estimated globally that there were 9.27 million incident cases of TB, 13.7 million prevalent cases.¹

TB is major issue in countries across the world.  It is hampered by the fact that most radiology departments and specialists tend to be based in cities, but it is a disease recognised for impacting the poorest sections in the community, often in remote locations¹.  In India alone, there were 2.64 million new cases of TB and 450,000 deaths in 2019, accounting for more than quarter of global cases and deaths².

1.     https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2980871/

2.     https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/11/e003979