MED.L Regulatory News (MED)

Intelligent Ultrasound Group plc

("Intelligent Ultrasound" or the "Group")

First live demonstration of ScanNav AnatomyGuide to clinicians

Intelligent Ultrasound Group plc (AIM: MED), the artificial intelligence (AI) software and simulation company, announces that the first live demonstration of the Group's ScanNav AnatomyGuide AI software to clinicians will take place this week at the Annual Scientific Meeting of Regional Anaesthesia United Kingdom (RA-UK).

RA-UK's Annual Scientific Meeting will take place in Belfast on 16-17 May 2019 and brings together a wide range of clinical experts, medical professionals and trainee anaesthetists for a mixture of workshops, clinical based lectures, and a new 'How I do it' expert clinical symposia focussed on real-life clinical scenarios and live scanning demonstrations.

As part of this new format Dr David Burkett St Laurent, Consultant Anaesthetist at the Royal Gwent Hospital Newport (Wales), will be performing live demonstrations using the Group's ScanNav AnatomyGuide AI software, which identifies and highlights anatomical structures on a live ultrasound image.

The product is being developed for use during Peripheral Nerve Block (PNB) procedures to support less experienced practitioners. PNB is a form of regional anaesthesia that can be used for certain surgical procedures as an alternative to general anaesthesia and also as a form of pain relief (potentially reducing the need for opioid analgesia). The demonstration will focus on two of these nerve blocks; the adductor canal block (in the thigh area) and the fascia iliaca block (in the pelvis/hip area).

The ScanNav AnatomyGuide AI software is the second AI enabled product being developed within the Group's Clinical Division and is currently pre-regulatory approval. The Group commenced a clinical study within the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board in November last year to gather clinical data for the product and it is expected that the ScanNav AnatomyGuide development will be substantially completed in 2019 and that the regulatory approval process for its sale in Europe and the United States will commence thereafter. ScanNav AnatomyGuide's development has been partly funded by Innovate UK

It is anticipated that ScanNav AnatomyGuide for PNB will be sold into hospitals through the ultrasound OEMs and that further ultrasound guided needling variants of the software will be developed. 

Commenting, Nicholas Sleep, CTO of Intelligent Ultrasound, said: "The benefits of regional anaesthesia to patients and to the health service generally are well known. We believe that ScanNav AnatomyGuide will provide additional confidence for practitioners with less experience in ultrasound guided regional anaesthesia, reduce their reliance on more senior colleagues, and allow a greater number of patients to benefit from PNB procedures."

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About Intelligent Ultrasound (www.intelligentultrasoundgroup.com)

Intelligent Ultrasound (AIM: MED), the intelligent ultrasound software and simulation company, develops artificial intelligence-based clinical image analysis software tools, augmented reality-based needle guidance software and advanced hi-fidelity haptic and manikin-based training simulators for medical practitioners.

 Based in Cardiff and Oxford in the UK, Atlanta in the US and with representation in Beijing in Asia, the Group operates two divisions:

Intelligent Ultrasound Simulation Division

Focusses on hi-fidelity ultrasound education and training through simulation. Its three main products are the ScanTrainer OBGYN training simulator, the HeartWorks echocardiography training simulator and the BodyWorks Eve Point of Care and Emergency Medicine training simulator. To date over 700 simulators have been sold to over 400 medical institutions in over 30 countries around the world.

Intelligent Ultrasound Clinical Division

Focusses on augmented reality and deep-learning based algorithms to make ultrasound machines smarter and more accessible. Products in development include ScanNav which uses machine-learning based algorithms to automatically identify and grade ultrasound images to provide scan assessment and audit of obstetric scanning. AnatomyGuide aims to simplify ultrasound-guided needling by providing the user with real-time AI-based needle guidance software for a range of medical procedures.

Some products in the pipeline may require US FDA or other regulatory approval, as such this material should be considered informational only and does not constitute an offer to sell, or infer claims or benefits.