In the latest development coming out of Viz.ai’s campaign to augment its disease-spotting AI toolkit by more than tenfold within the next five years or sooner, the company has scored an FDA nod for one of its advanced algorithms. This AI innovation is trained to inspect patients for indicators of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), which occurs when there is bulging or swelling present in the aortic section that runs through the stomach. AAA affects roughly 5% of individuals the world over and leads to more than 175,000 deaths annually. The mortality rate is mainly comprised of cases wherein the aneurysm went undetected, and the blood vessel ruptured.
“AAA is an important and actionable incidental finding that is too often missed,” said Viz Chief Clinical Officer Jayme Strauss. “The vision behind Viz AAA is to automatically catch and follow abdominal aortic disease, no matter the patient’s location. We believe that this product will enable care teams to prevent catastrophic aortic emergencies, such as aortic rupture, by increasing the surveillance of these patients.”
This is the first of Viz’s AI tools for detecting and triaging potential AAA cases to be given an FDA nod, and it has additionally upped its clout by earning a spot on Fierce Medtech’s yearly Fierce 15 list. The algorithm is due to be folded into the broader Viz Aortic module—itself a recipient of an FDA green light—that features several of its aortic disease-focused algorithms in a single place. As of now, the module can spot Type A and B aortic dissections likewise, and also contains other non-AI tools that assist clinicians in finding thoracic abdominal aneurysms and ruptured aneurysms.
