iCad (Nasdaq:ICAD) announced today that it entered into a collaboration with Solis Mammography to define cardiovascular risk.
The development and commercial collaboration revolves around producing an artificial intelligence (AI) solution. This solution potentially quantifies the presence of breast arterial calcifications in a mammogram to assess the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). It uses data obtained from mammograms.
Nashua, New Hampshire-based iCad said this application could identify millions of women at risk for heart disease. It builds upon iCad’s flagship AI for breast imaging, ProFound AI. It both detects and quantifies calcifications within the arteries of the breast.
“With heart disease being the number one killer among women in the U.S., this collaboration marks the initiation of a historical milestone for iCad that will not only offer the potential to address a significant unmet need in patient care but also to penetrate a sizeable new market,” said Stacey Stevens, president and CEO of iCad. “iCad and Solis Mammography are aligned in our mutual goal to improve women’s health, and this initiative will further expand our purpose and mission, extending our ability to positively impact women’s lives into other areas outside of cancer detection and treatment.”
iCad, Solis build upon previously established relationship
In the release, iCad said it hopes the model provides radiologists with an evidence-based risk product. This could “help shape the trajectory” of patient lives and their cardiovascular health. Solis Mammography centers already implement the company’s FDA-cleared ProFound AI platform.
Solis Mammography has more than 100 locations across the U.S. It plans to provide clinical support for the breast arterial calcification (BAC) risk model. In the collaboration, Solis also aims to help develop appropriate pathways for patients to accelerate adoption of the technology.
Dr. Chirag Parghi, CMO at Solis, said that approximately 40 million women undergo mammography screenings in the U.S. each year. This allows BAC evaluation to offer a simple and accurate method to identify those at high risk of CVD.
“We look forward to working closely with iCAD to develop a solution that can unlock additional applications of the AI model in traditional mammography to learn about risk factors that were previously ignored,” said Parghi. “As a leader in breast imaging, it is our obligation to offer every possible bit of information from the mammogram to our patients to help them advance their health. We are pleased to partner with iCAD to help use today’s mammogram to find tomorrow’s heart disease.”