The artificial intelligence developer Zebra Medical Vision has received its seventh clearance from the FDA for its programs, the latest enabling X-ray images to be used in place of CT scans for certain aspects of orthopedic surgery planning.
The AI solution is designed to derive bone measurements from X-rays at the same level of quality but at a lower cost—which the company says can help open new markets for implants and procedures in areas where CT and MRI scanners are not available or unaffordable.
“Expanding from radiology to orthopedic surgery supports our mission of leveraging machine learning and computer vision to help patients achieve better care everywhere with more readily available resources,” Zebra Medical CEO Ohad Arazi said.
The program reconstructs a 3D model of the patient’s bones from a standard X-ray, offering orthopedic surgeons accurate skeletal landmarks.
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In addition, providing more data ahead of a procedure could help streamline the use of less-common implant sizes, as well as cut down on the delivery and prep of unnecessary hardware to the operating room.
Earlier this year, Zebra Medical received an FDA clearance for its breast cancer AI, to help detect suspicious lesions on a mammography X-ray.
The July green light marked the company’s first in cancer screening. Previous clearances have covered digital solutions for CT scans and X-rays to help automatically detect brain bleeds, collapsed lungs, spinal fractures and other conditions.