Neurophet said on Tuesday that its AI-based neurodegenerative brain image analysis software, Neurophet AQUA, has received medical device approval from Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority (HSA).

Neurophet AQUA is the second device to win approval in Singapore after the company’s automated PET image analysis software, Neurophet SCALE PET, was approved last year in December.

Accordingly, the software is a brain imaging medical device that analyzes magnetic resonance images (MRI) with AI technology to analyze brain atrophy and white matter damages observed in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.

Comparatively, Atlas-based software, a traditional brain image analysis product, takes about 8 to 24 hours to segment brain images and has a high failure rate, creating practical difficulties for doctors. In particular, it has limited use for analyzing the brains of the Asian population.

In contrast, Neurophet AQUA can segment and analyze brain images in 5 minutes and boasts a high analysis success rate. Regardless of race, age, and gender, it analyzes brain images and produces consistent results. It is compatible with global MRI device manufacturers such as GE, Phillips, and Canon, said a company official.

Neurophet plans to jointly advance Neurophet AQUA and Neurophet SCALE PET to set the global standard for Alzheimer's disease diagnosis.

In this regard, the company also recently signed a collaborative research agreement partnering with the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore last year, to analyze data from the Dementia Research Centre using Neurophet Aqua.

"With the approval of two of our flagship products in Singapore, we are beginning to penetrate the South East Asian market," Neurophet CEO Jun-kil Been said. "As joint research with the Dementia Research Center is being conducted, we will do our best to ensure that our products can be actively used in the South East Asian medical market."