Med Support Systems and NTT DATA Testing AI Solution for Medical Diagnosis Support

Aim to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of brain scan diagnosis

December 9, 2019
NTT DATA Corporation

TOKYO – December 9, 2019 – Med Support Systems, a Tokyo-based firm specializing in radiologic interpretations, and NTT DATA, a leading IT services provider, announced today that they have begun a trial use of artificial intelligence (AI) to support the diagnosis of brain diseases using MRI. The trial, which began on November 29 and will end in March 2020, is expected to pave the way for a commercial solution in the fiscal year ending in March 2021.

The trial is evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of the solution's AI diagnosis support engine and viewer in analyzing MRI scans. The solution combines Med Support Systems' image diagnostic system and NTT DATA's AI technology.

In Japan, there is a growing demand for a scan solution that, compared to current methods, is more efficient and supports diagnoses of at least equal or better quality. Current scan methods require highly skilled radiologists to carefully interpret large amounts of images for a single diagnosis. Now that Japan's aging population social challenge is requiring more scans for medical examinations, a concurrent decline in the working population is forcing a shrinking number of radiologists to shoulder increasing diagnoses burdens.

Hiroki Ikesue, Executive IT Officer of Med Support Systems, said: "Needs for preventive medicine and preliminary testing for cancers will grow due to population aging, so demands are expected to rise for diagnostic imaging, especially MRIs. The shortage of radiologists will become more critical unless we find a solution that helps them perform their work with greater efficiency and increased confidence."

Tsuyoshi Kitani, Executive Vice President and CTO of NTT DATA, said: "There is a growing global demand to support the clinical decisions of doctors and nurses with more innovative medical data, including through the use of AI technologies. Research into medical AI has been one of our key focuses over the past five years, so we look forward to applying our knowledge and experience in developing an AI diagnosis support engine for radiologists analyzing the crucial brain MRI scans."

The roles of the two companies in their joint research initiative are as follow:

  • Med Support Systems

    • Provide anonymized medical images

    • Develop the AI diagnostic viewer

    • Evaluate the AI engine's performance against current methods of image analysis

    • Verify wide-ranging applicability, from preventative examinations to ongoing treatments

    • Verify contributions to work efficiency

  • NTT DATA

    • Configure the AI development environment

    • Develop the AI diagnosis support engine

Going forward, Med Support Systems and NTT DATA will work to expand the application of their image-analysis solution for wider diagnosis scenarios, aiming to further reduce burdens on medical service providers as well as increase the quality of medical care.

Product names, company names and corporate names are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their owners.

About Med Support Systems Co., Ltd

Med Support Systems is a company based in Tokyo Japan to offer software in SaaSo format for Diagnosis Imaging Centers (e.g., Medical Scanning) specializing in computer-based medical image diagnosis. Medical Scanning is a brand and a network of 4 Medical Corporations and 30 clinics which manages 50 MRI apparatuses, receiving over 400,000 requests each year from major university and flagship hospitals.

About NTT DATA Corporation

NTT DATA is a leading IT services provider and global innovation partner headquartered in Tokyo, with business operations in over 50 countries. Our emphasis is on long-term commitment, combining global reach with local intimacy to provide premier professional services varying from consulting and systems development to outsourcing. For more information, visit www.nttdata.com.

For further information from media:

Sakae Shishikura
Med Support Systems
sakae.s@medsupportsystems.co.jp


Mayuko Harada or Satoshi Ito
Weber Shandwick (for NTT DATA Corporation)
nttdata@webershandwick.com

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