ContextVision, a global market leader in medical imaging solutions, has partnered with the University of Washington, a top ten university that is globally recognized for its research and clinical excellence. The university's healthcare system, UW Medicine, brings significant clinical expertise and research capabilities to this collaboration.

At the end of 2023, ContextVision launched a strategic venture into data quality, expanding beyond its established business focus on image quality. The new business initiative aims to pioneer AI-based solutions capable of interpreting organ-specific imaging data to enable physiological quantification biomarkers. The partnership with the UW School of Medicine's Department of Radiology and Division of Gastroenterology  represents a major milestone in this strategic initiative, with the potential to aid the early detection and monitoring of MASLD.

"We are thrilled to announce this strategic partnership with a top-tier medical school in clinical and radiological research. This is a critical step toward our vision of developing multiple products within data quality and liver disease management," says Gerald Pötzsch, CEO of ContextVision. "The potential in this field is tremendous, and over time, if everything aligns, I believe data quality will become our largest business area."

Data collection and clinical collaboration to revolutionize MASLD diagnosis

The partnership seeks to provide more accurate, and earlier, detection of MASLD using ultrasound, potentially transforming patient outcomes compared to current diagnostic methods.

"Healthcare technology is rapidly evolving, and we have a responsibility to improve the capabilities and efficiencies of healthcare through clinical translation and adoption of advanced technologies. The goal of this collaboration is to accelerate the rate of translation of our research to patient care and offer improved patient outcomes," said Dr. Dushyant Sahani, UW chair and professor of radiology.

The UW Medicine healthcare system cares for a large volume of patients with MASLD.

This patient volume allows for a comprehensive overview of disease progression, from early to advanced stages, enhancing the quality of radiological datasets.

UW Medicine project co-leads are Dr. Manish Dhyani, radiology's director of research and clinical translation in ultrasound, and Dr. Rotonya Carr, division head of gastroenterology. They expressed hope that this collaboration of radiologists, hepatologists and ContextVision's software engineers will improve the diagnostic journey as well as patient experience and outcomes.

The UW School of Medicine also provides a state-of-the-art digital imaging research center, ensuring the highest standards of clinical research. The collaboration will focus on gathering extensive clinical, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging datasets, tracking disease progression with a rich digital repository of advanced physiological insights for new product development. As the project progresses, ContextVision will announce key milestones and additional strategic partnerships to support this venture. ContextVision will also announce further details about the study once it is approved and the first patient is enrolled.

Large market potential and future growth in digital biomarkers

ContextVision recognizes the substantial market potential in developing digital biomarkers for MASLD. The vision is to develop multiple products over the coming five years, empowering our customer's advanced diagnostic solutions. ContextVision also plans to expand into digital biomarkers targeting other organ systems, building a comprehensive suite of data quality solutions for additional diseases. This expansion into data quality is anticipated to contribute substantially to ContextVision's long-term growth trajectory.

The urgent need for advanced liver disease solutions

Today, one in four Americans is at risk of fatty liver, a life-threatening condition, affecting nearly 100 million people in the U.S. alone. In China, the prevalence is more than double, with over 200 million affected individuals. On a global scale, the number of people suffering from liver diseases is expected to rise significantly the coming years. With the cost of treating liver diseases exceeding hundreds of billions of USD globally each year, there is an urgent need for advanced technologies to monitor liver health and for solutions that can reduce the overall cost of care.*

*American Liver Foundation, American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, Journal of Hepatology

For more information, please contact

Gerald Pötzsch

Chief Executive Officer, ContextVision
gerald.potzsch@contextvision.com

About ContextVision
ContextVision is a medical technology software company specialized in image analysis and artificial intelligence. As the global market leader within image enhancement, we are a trusted partner to leading manufacturers of ultrasound, X-ray and MRI equipment around the world. Our expertise is to develop powerful software products, based on proprietary technology and artificial intelligence for image-based applications. Our cutting-edge technology helps clinicians accurately interpret medical images, a crucial foundation for better diagnosis and treatment. The company, established in 1983, is based in Sweden with local representation in the U.S., Japan, China and Korea. ContextVision is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker CONTX.