MVision AI, a Finnish startup specializing in medical imaging and artificial intelligence, is dedicated to expediting the cancer treatment planning process without compromising on the quality of care. Their innovative approach harnesses the power of AI-driven automatic segmentation tools, streamlining the critical radiotherapy treatment planning workflow. Today, the company proudly announced its successful securing of $5.85 million (€5.4 million) in post-seed financing.
In contrast to the traditional manual treatment planning, which often entails a nerve-racking waiting period of two to three weeks before radiotherapy treatment planning commences, MVision’s automation empowers the possibility of same-day treatment. Mahmudul Hasan, the founder and CEO of MVision, emphasized the significance of time-saving in this context. According to Hasan, the International Agency for Research on Cancer predicts that the number of patients requiring radiotherapy treatment will surge to over 29 million by 2040.
Hasan elaborated on their AI segmentation model, explaining that it takes CT and MRI scans as input and generates 3D representations of organs and tumors. Consequently, it automates the manual tasks typically performed by radio oncologists, tasks that usually demand 30 to 90 minutes per patient. MVision achieves this automation within mere minutes, revolutionizing the efficiency of cancer treatment planning.
Enhanced Segmentation for Tailored Cancer Treatment
The company’s auto-segmentation tool enhances the customization of treatment plans, ensuring the implementation of best practices to minimize radiation exposure to healthy organs. In a broader context, it seeks to standardize the quality of global cancer care and enhance clinical decision-making through its cloud-based decision support tools.
MVision has developed AI segmentation models by gathering image data from clinical partners. The platform boasts a CE-marked and FDA-cleared auto-segmentation feature designed for radiotherapy planning. Additionally, the company has intentions to introduce more features to offer a comprehensive planning and segmentation service for MR images.
As per an assessment conducted by the Sociedad Española de Oncologia Radioterapica in Madrid, Spain, MVision AI’s technology has made a significant impact on reducing contouring time, ultimately improving patient care by shortening waiting times. Contour delineation encompasses the crucial aspect of treatment planning where tumors are precisely outlined alongside nearby organs at risk of potential radiation toxicity.
Promising initial findings from MVision AI
After implementing MVision AI, it was observed that the same-day planning readiness for breast cancer scans surged to 44%. In contrast, without MVision AI, merely 10% of the scans were prepared for planning on the very same day.
MVision was founded in 2017 by a team comprising Hasan, Saad Ullah Akrram, and Jarkko Niemelä, all driven by the vision of revolutionizing radiotherapy through cutting-edge AI technology. The spark of this idea ignited in Hasan while attending a clinical training session during his tenure with a prominent radiotherapy systems provider. During this session, he grappled with the manual task of contouring organs from CT scans, and it dawned on him that AI held the potential to streamline this intricate process.
Joined by Akrram and Niemelä, who brought their extensive software engineering expertise to the table, in addition to being a medical physicist and an AI research scientist, Hasan embarked on a mission to enhance radiology treatment using AI.
Since then, MVision has expanded into a team of more than 30 professionals, boasting rich backgrounds in both the medical industry and AI research. The company proudly states that its technology has positively impacted the treatment of over 100,000 cancer patients across 14 countries, achieving significant reductions in waiting times at various facilities, including the Gainesville Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Florida.
Hasan has articulated that the fresh investment will be allocated to research and the development of novel solutions aimed at expediting treatment planning for radiotherapy. Simultaneously, MVision is dedicated to constructing a globally scalable cloud-based platform tailored for cancer treatment.
He remarked, “We are also actively exploring opportunities for further expansion, with the aim of making our solution accessible to a broader spectrum of patients worldwide. Our overarching mission revolves around establishing a globally scalable cloud platform for a clinical decision support system dedicated to cancer care.”