The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is partnering with amplifAI health, a Saudi health technology company, to develop a new disease-detecting method that combines AI technology with the hyperspectral imaging technology HyplexTM designed by KAUST Professor of Electrical Engineering Andrea Fratalocchi.
The collaboration will first test the method to detect and manage diabetic foot complications. A clinical trial is being planned, said the release, said KAUST in a statement on Monday.
The memorandum of understanding signed with amplifAI highlights the role the KAUST Smart Health Initiative plays in improving healthcare. The goal is to detect diabetes early, develop better treatment protocols, and significantly reduce the need for lower limb amputations.
This is the first time that KAUST technology will be applied to care for diabetic patients. It is bound to save the Kingdom more than SAR2 billion annually in medical costs and lower the 1.5 million diabetic foot amputations worldwide yearly, improving the lives of millions of people.
HyplexTM can collect terabyte-sized data in one second, far exceeding the gigabyte size of current commercial cameras, providing a wealth of new information for early disease detection, according to the release.
Vice President for Research and Director of the Smart Health Initiative at KAUST Pierre Magistretti said this initiative aims to enhance the predictive capabilities of artificial intelligence in detecting diseases using technology developed by KAUST, thus improving diagnostic processes, and making them more accurate and efficient.
