With the artificial intelligence (AI) medical imaging industry showing rapid growth, Korean AI medical imaging startups are also expanding their footing overseas.
According to Contrive Datum Insights, a market research agency, the global AI medical imaging market, which was valued at $1.7 billion in 2022, is projected to reach $20.9 billion by 2030.
Korean companies have recently started launching their products or signing supply contracts beyond Asian regions to the U.S. and EU.
Notably, Lunit said Wednesday that Guardant Health has integrated Lunit SCOPE PD-L1, an AI-based PD-L1 scoring algorithm, into the Guardant360 TissueNextTM PD-L1 test for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to enhance biomarker detection.
The launch follows the two companies’ entering a partnership in 2021, after a strategic investment from Guardant Health to Lunit.
The newly integrated algorithm will enable Guardant to offer augmented biomarker assessment for NSCLC patients through AI-based quantification of tissue samples using a scoring system generated by Lunit SCOPE PD-L1.
The enhanced Guardant test will support pathologists in diagnosing PD-L1 status with higher accuracy and efficiency.
According to Lunit, its AI software improved the detection of PD-L1 by more than 20 percent compared to manual pathologist interpretation.
Lunit stressed that the Lunit SCOPE PD-L1’s integration with the Guardant360 TissueNext PD-L1 test is the first application of Lunit’s software in Guardant Galaxy, Guardant Health’s suite of technology applications developed to enhance the performance and utility of its portfolio of cancer tests.
“The development of the AI-supported scoring algorithm for the Guardant360 TissueNext PD-L1 test is a great example of using advanced medical image analytics to enhance precision diagnostics in lung cancer and help doctors find the right treatment for the right patients,” Lunit CEO Suh Beom-suk said.
Guardant Health co-CEO Helmy Eltoukhy also said, “The digital pathology solution from Lunit has already demonstrated the power of AI to help improve detection of PD-L1 in certain cases of NSCLC.”
The company believes Lunit has the potential to contribute much more broadly to advances in identifying cancer biomarkers and informing treatment decisions, Eltoukhy added.
Coreline Soft also announced on Wednesday that it will supply AVIEW CAC, an AI cardiovascular diagnosis solution, to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, the U.S.
AVIEW CAC is an AI cardiovascular diagnosis solution that automatically analyzes and quantifies image data obtained from computed tomography (CT) scans.
This software automatically classifies and quantifies coronary artery calcification in four coronary arteries within two minutes by identifying the locations of coronary arteries with AI.
Afterward, it informs the risk of coronary artery disease based on the MESA (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis) study.
Coreline Soft said it established a joint research partnership with UCLA-Harbor.
The company signed a research collaboration for non-gated scan and incidental pulmonary nodule (IPN) detection.
Using this collaboration, the two institutions plan to use the CAC test, which has been limited to cardiac tests, as part of regular health checkups soon.