2022, a year of hope for neurology

As always when contemplating a year that reaches its end, it is challenging to resist the urge to enumerate all activities, achievements, and milestones of months gone by. 

So many new hospitals have started using icobrain and icompanion to help many more people with neurological conditions, so many new deep learning models were trained and validated, so much impact was demonstrated on healthcare systems, clinical decision-making & drug development, and there is so much more that I’m forgetting now. But above all, our icometrix team is enjoying every moment on the (sometimes rocky) journey towards precision medicine in neurology. One team, one goal, and a shared passion #weareicometrix.

For those who like to dive a bit deeper, here you can find an overview of our 36 published articles on pubmed, my 45 LinkedIn posts in 2022, newsletter articles, and the 60 most wonderful and passionate people on the planet. 

Below, we share with you a most random selection of peaks we reached over the past 4 seasons of this year. Before you go all out in goblin mode, we hope you have a virtuous & relaxing holiday season and a very happy new year! See you in 2023!

The year kicked off with our icobrain MRI measures for people with Multiple Sclerosis receiving a Medtech Innovation Briefing (MIB) from the National Institute for Health and Care Evidence (NICE). This is a very unique recognition for technology in Multiple Sclerosis and an important first step towards NICE recommendation. Read the briefing

As there is renewed hope that a treatment will become available for Alzheimer's disease, our healthcare systems will need to change dramatically and technology will play a crucial role. When introducing new technology, education is crucial. The ALZimaging educational platform continued improving, including additional chapters on differential diagnosis and safety reading & many new videos. Continue Learning

A Royal visit. It was a true honor that Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid of Belgium, together with the mayor of Leuven, Mohamed Ridouani , visited our headquarters in Leuven. We spent a lot more time than was planned discussing the huge need for precision medicine in neurology and how our solutions impact people with brain disorders. Read more

It is always heartwarming when our hard work is recognized independently. We received many awards in 2022, and independent studies demonstrated our leading position. To highlight one, Frost & Sullivan awarded icometrix with the 'Best Practices Technology Innovation Leadership Award' in the Global neurological disorders artificial intelligence algorithms industry. A prestigious recognition. Read more

No rest for the weary; icometrix participated in over 23 conferences in 2022. Summer was particularly active as we were present at EAN, ECR, AAIC, ASFNR, and ESNR to name a few. In this context, a huge thanks to our partners for the great collaboration, 3DR Labs, Aidoc, Bayer, Blackford Analysis, DocPanel, GE Healthcare, Guerbet, Incepto, Nuance Healthcare , Osimis, Philips Imaging, Sectra, Siemens Healthineers, and UpCare Partners & Associates. In addition to all these conferences, we even managed to squeeze our annual team-building into this hectic period. Relive our action-packed year here. 

At the largest conference on Multiple Sclerosis, ECTRIMS, icometrix hosted the 'Brain Exchange' session on "Digital Health Technology and the impact on MS care". Panel members, Dr. Klaus Schmierer, Dr. Stanley Cohan, and Dr. Robert Shin gave an insightful presentation on the topic and how they use and implement icobrain in their clinical care. Click on the names to watch the presentations.

In their paper, Omoumi et al. highlighted the things you need to consider when buying a commercial AI solution in radiology, from relevance, validation, integration, over regulatory to support. In one of our more recent blog posts, not only do we answer the top 10 questions raised in the these ECLAIR guidelines, but we rise above the alternatives with strength. Discover why icobrain is a delicious eclair

The icompanion app is a true companion for people with multiple sclerosis and is there to measure, educate, and support throughout the seasons. Hence, it deserves a special mention. Over 1100 people with MS started actively using the app in 2022. One of the many major updates in 2022 was the addition of passive monitoring. People with MS are now able to see info related to the weather, their sleep, and their physical activity directly in icompanion.