Coronary artery disease is the number one cause of death around the world.
Despite its prevalence, current diagnostic methods and strategies for coronary artery disease (CAD) are often slow and can not properly assess high-risk plaques, leading to potentially unnecessary, risky and costly procedures.
Heart disease kills 17 million people annually, more than all the cancers combined, with cardiovascular disease diagnosis and care predicted to cost more than $1.5 trillion ($US1 trillion) per year in the United States alone.
CAD is caused by the build-up of fats, cholesterol and other substances, dubbed plaque, within the walls of the arteries of the heart.
An Australia medtech company has developed a tech tool that can screen for at-risk plaque features and diagnose the leading cause of heart attacks in just minutes.
Artrya has developed Salix Coronary Anatomy, an artificial intelligence-powered tool that can detect and diagnose coronary artery disease through the mapping of vulnerable plaque and other coronary biomarkers.
The tool enables near real-time diagnosis of these features rather than the days or even weeks that current methods can take.
The Salix Coronary Artery tool visualises cardiac anatomy comprehensively, reducing the time taken to diagnose without the need for external validation. Its AI-based image analysis tool assists physicians in identifying and analysing the extent and type of arterial plaque that could contribute to a heart attack.
“Artrya delivers what we believe is the most advanced and seamless technology platform on the market for the detection, diagnosis and care of coronary artery disease, creating a new standard of care for the number one cause of death in the world,” Artrya chief executive Mathew Regan said earlier this year.
Artrya’s Salix Coronary Anatomy is a finalist in the InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence in the HealthTech and Translation Hero categories. The Translation Hero award is sponsored by CSIRO’s ON Innovation Program.
The InnovationAus Awards for Excellence winners and finalists will be celebrated at a black-tie gala dinner at The Venue Alexandria in Sydney on Wednesday October 30. You can book your tickets here.
In just five years, Artrya has developed and validated the Salix Coronary Anatomy and received regulatory approval in Europe, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. It is also in the final stages of US FDA clearance, and is well on the path to commercialisation.
Artrya has also inked strategic partnerships with hospitals in the US to test the tool and integrate it into the hospital systems.
The Perth-based company was co-founded by John Konstantopoulous, who previously served as the global industry leader for tech giant IBM, and information technology specialist John Barrington.
Salix Coronary Anatomy operates with low-to-no human handling times, meaning it can offer a cost-base lower than its rivals, and can scale rapidly across markets.
Artrya has received a total of $60 million in funding, from venture capital firms, family offices and high-net-worth individuals, along with a $1 million federal government grant through the MTPConnect and BMTH program.
Earlier this year Artrya signed its first commercial deal in Australia, completing a deal with the Cardiac Centre NSW and the Cardiac CT Centre NSW, based in the Illawarra and south coast of New South Wales.
Under the agreement, these centres will use Salix Coronary Anatomy with patients across four sites. In total, these centres treat more than 25,000 cases of heart disease each year.
“This commercial agreement validates our strategy of entering new markets via evaluation periods, offering clinicians the opportunity to test and validate our technology, integrate it into their workflows and experience firsthand the speed and accuracy of Salix in detecting heart disease compared to conventional methods,” Regan said.
Looking for brand exposure in front of Australia’s tech ecosystem? Purchase a table of 10 for the InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence and have your logo displayed on screens across the venue and in the event programme as a table sponsor.
The InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence are supported by the Australian Computer Society, Investment NSW, Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Technology Council of Australia, TechnologyOne, National Artificial Intelligence Centre, CSIRO’s ON Innovation Program, Reason Group, Q-CTRL, University of New South Wales, and IP Australia.
Protecting your great ideas with intellectual property (IP) rights can lead to lasting benefits for your growing business. IP refers to creations of the mind, such as a brand, logo, invention, design or artistic work. Head to the IP Australia website to find out more about IP, and how it might help your business.
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