Biotech

Osteopore and Singular Health collaborate on AI-powered cranial implant design process

Go to Imelda Cotton author's page
By Imelda Cotton - 
Osteopore 3D-printed bone healing implants sales COVID-19 ASX OSX

Osteopore said sales of its 3D-printed medical implants remain strong and its supply chain is unaffected by Singapore’s widespread shutdowns.

Copied

Bone healing biotech Osteopore (ASX: OSX) has inked a deal with Singular Health Group (ASX: SHG) for a comparative study between Osteopore’s existing cranial implant design process and a new artificial intelligence design engine in a clinical environment.

The study seeks to validate the results of the new AI engine, using Osteopore’s data set of 40 craniotomy scans and existing cranial implants, which have achieved requisite ethics approvals for research and commercial usage.

It will be conducted over a maximum 12 month period to test the levels of accuracy and efficiency provided by the automated generation of patient-specific cranial implant designs.

Osteopore will make a $10,000 contribution towards the collaboration in cash and in-kind.

Design improvements

Osteopore chief executive officer Khoon Seng Goh said the outcome of the collaboration lies in the potentially significant design and process improvements afforded by Singular’s AI technology.

“As a specialist in regenerative medicine, [we] collaborate with a range of technologies to improve the efficacy of our regenerative implants,” he said.

“This win-win formula brings future technologies to commercialisation faster so that surgeons have new solutions for their treatment strategy and patients can be treated early to make the most of their body’s healing capacity.”

Data61 project

Osteopore’s comparative study will commence after Singular Health completes a project known as Data61 and sponsored by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

Singular has been awarded a Kickstart 2 grant from the government agency, matching $50,000 of its own funding to conduct the project which will seek to automatically generate patient-specific cranial implants for craniotomies from CT scans.

The grant follows Singular’s Kickstart 1 project earlier this year, which developed a spinal segmentation model with more than 95% accuracy.

It will see the company’s technical team collaborate with Data61 to integrate the model into proprietary cross-platform 3Dicom virtual surgical planning software, which allows for rapid 3D rendering of 2D medical images.

The Kickstart initiative provides funding and support for innovative Australian start-ups and small businesses to access CSIRO’s research and development expertise and capabilities in the development of new technologies.