SAN FRANCISCO, May 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Viz, an artificial intelligence (AI) medical imaging company that helps optimize emergency treatment, today announced it has closed a $7.5 million seed round of financing led by DHVC (Danhua Capital) and Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors. Jerry Yang’s AME Cloud Ventures also joined the round. Fusing AI and medical imaging to help doctors treat patients faster, the company will use the funding to accelerate the development and market penetration of its groundbreaking platform—focusing on stroke.
“Advances in computer science, and particularly machine learning, allow us to rethink conventional medical practice,” said Dror Berman, managing partner at Innovation Endeavors. “The talented team at Viz is helping doctors to solve real clinical issues—like stroke. Over the next 10 years, the entire healthcare sector will benefit from the speed and accuracy that these technological advances afford."
According to the National Stroke Association, a person suffers from a stroke every 40 seconds, is the leading cause of preventable disability and is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States. When the brain is injured, every second matters. Viz aims to dramatically shorten the time between when a patient initially seeks help and when they receive the proper treatment.
Medical imaging diagnostics are the foundation for accurate patient diagnosis and effective treatment plans. Viz aims to speed up time-sensitive diagnoses and optimize treatment pathways for patients when it really matters.
“Viz was an ideal investment given our focus on disruptive artificial intelligence and big data technologies,” added Kevin Ding, managing director, DHVC. “The potential power of artificial intelligence in medicine is undeniable. Viz is driving a new era of artificial intelligence in the healthcare arena that can reduce the time it takes for doctors to diagnose and treat patients—improving patient care and outcomes.”
Artificial intelligence can compare the scan being read to hundreds of thousands of medical imaging scans instantaneously, pulling out patterns, “seeing” the scan. Viz’s AI technology can categorize scans to help doctors make the right decisions for patients, faster—and helps them catch things that might otherwise be missed.
“We invest in innovators using data to transform industries, and we expect Viz to revolutionize healthcare. No doctor wants to miss a diagnosis; Viz helps provide an unmatched level of diagnostic accuracy so doctors can quickly get patients to the right specialist,” added Jerry Yang, founding partner of AME Cloud Ventures and co-founder of Yahoo. “Led by a seasoned team of clinicians and technologists, Viz applies advanced artificial intelligence to dramatically reduce diagnostic errors and improve patient care.”
Viz was founded by team of doctors from around the globe, including: Chris Mansi, a neurosurgeon and Stanford MBA; David Golan Ph.D., a postdoc from Stanford in statistics with expertise in AI and deep learning networks; and Manoj Ramachandran, a consultant orthopedic surgeon and former hospital CIO. DHVC’s Kevin Ding and Innovation Endeavors’ Dror Berman will join the Viz Board.
“As doctors, there is nothing more important to us than improving patient care and patient outcomes,” noted Chris Mansi, neurosurgeon, as well as cofounder and CEO of Viz. “Applying deep learning technology to create a diagnostic aide for doctors so they can provide a timely diagnosis for every patient can help doctors save more lives. When you bring the average standard of care closer to the best standard of care, everyone wins. Viz is like having the best radiologist in the world on your team, a teammate who never gets tired, takes a vacation or stops learning.”
To learn more about stroke, check out the timely resources provided by the National Stroke Association and by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association for Stroke Awareness Month.
About Viz
Viz solves medical imaging challenges faced by emergency room doctors and medical specialists. Developed by clinicians and artificial intelligence engineers, the Viz technology platform uses deep learning to help doctors identify, diagnose and treat patients faster and more effectively. Backed by leading investors, including DHVC (Danhua Capital), Innovation Endeavors and AME Cloud Ventures, the company is headquartered in San Francisco with experts and offices in major innovation hubs around the globe such as Tel Aviv and London.