Collaboration develops healthcare imaging to improve patient prognosis and treatment
Cambridge Computed Imaging Ltd, the medical imaging software company, has arranged a large-scale collaboration with Future Processing, a Polish software development company, to provide software for the display and analysis of medical images.
The collaboration between Cambridge Computed Imaging Ltd (CCI) (a part of Feedback PLC) and Future Processing started back in 2005, when both companies came together to work on advanced systems for fluoroscopy, angiography and the statistical analysis of medical images.
However, in the last year their collaboration has progressed and resulted in developing innovative quantitative imaging products. This has led to a significant expansion and both companies have seen an increase in their development teams, which extends their ability to work on new projects.
To expand their healthcare team further, Future Processing and CCI are working together and their healthcare team now consists of experienced scientists and engineers with extensive knowledge of software development, medical image processing, and machine learning. From the collaboration, both Future Processing and CCI were able to develop TexRAD – a software that improves the diagnosis and treatments of patients.
TexRAD: Showing what the eye can’t see
Since their collaboration began 11 years ago, both companies have worked on advanced systems for fluoroscopy, angiography, and the statistical analysis of medical images. These projects include their flagship product, TexRAD, which is able to extract and analyse ‘textures’ and abnormalities in medical images, including CT, MRI or PET scans.
Even though medical images are used to make decisions on patient care and treatment, they are limited to what the human eye can see. The TexRAD software has the potential to assist clinicians to make more informed decisions when images are acquired in routine clinical practice. This includes predicting the prognosis (and enabling the stratification) of patients with cancer, so they receive the most appropriate treatment.
Jarosław Czaja, CEO of Future Processing, is enthusiastic about the software’s potential: "We are excited about this project. Together with CCI we work on medical imaging software and bring innovative solutions to the healthcare sector. The TexRAD software can improve the way healthcare professionals can analyse images, hopefully saving many lives."
The CCI and Future Processing engineers have also assisted in creating an Image Sharing platform, used for teaching and sharing knowledge between clinicians. This is a cloud based platform that allows real-time synchronisation of medical image display for multiple users in various geographical locations. Medical images can therefore be shared through the platform, allowing staff to discuss the images and make informed decisions.
TexRAD deployed in medical studies and research
TexRAD has already proven its value in medical research and it is being applied in a wide range of medical studies. Projects developed with CCI are a good example of how research findings (also conducted at Future Processing) can be applied in the healthcare industry.
In addition to extensive medical research, TexRAD has also sold a research version of the software to universities and research institutes around the world. By sharing the imaging and continuing TexRAD’s development and training, overall patient care can be enhanced and improved.
CCI and Future Processing are working towards TexRAD being able to be used in clinical practice, to support diagnosis of cancer and other diseases, to enable patients to receive the most appropriate treatment
Planning for the future
Further collaboration between Future Processing and CCI will allow new products to be rapidly developed. Although at this stage only a non-binding letter of intent has been agreed, the intention is for both companies to agree formal licences for new software products to be brought to market in 2017/18.
