Hot on the heels of FDA approval for its AI-guided cardiac ultrasound software, Caption has received a $4.95m grant from the Gates Foundation to create a version that could speed up pneumonia diagnosis, the leading killer of under-fives. Allie Nawrat talks to Caption’s CTO Kilian Koepsell about its AI software and why there is an urgent need to democratise access to lung ultrasound technology.

Caption AI guides any healthcare professional through performing and then interpreting an ultrasound of the heart. Unlike other AI technologies that simply support assessment and interpretation of images for diagnosis, Caption noticed that the challenge is actually having the training to produce a good quality image in the first place.

In July 2020, Caption AI became the first artificial intelligence (AI) cardiac ultrasound software to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The approved software was then packaged into a marketable device developed by a partner. According to Koepsell, the software and the device are already available in 20 hospitals across the US.

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