Heuron Named Finalist in World's Largest MRI Conference ‘ISMRM’ Challenge

2024-05-20



Heuron, a medical AI startup focused on neurological disorders based in South Korea, achieved finalist status in the prestigious International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Challenge held in Singapore from April 4 to 9. ISMRM is the world's largest and most authoritative MRI conference, bringing together hundreds of medical professionals and researchers from various countries annually to share the latest insights and form networks within the MRI field.

 

Heuron’s research team (Gho Sung-min, Heo Hwan, Lee A-leum, and Jo Jeong-won) was recognized as a finalist in the Parkinson's disease category of the 2024 ISMRM Challenge for their work on “Simultaneous Neuromelanin and Nigrosome1 Imaging Using a Single 3D Multi-Echo GRE Sequence.”

 

The ISMRM Challenge consists of six categories, each with tasks assigned to researchers worldwide, and finalists are selected based on their research outcomes. Heuron made history as the first Korean entity to be named a finalist in the ISMRM Challenge, presenting their findings to a global audience of medical professionals and researchers.

 

In this challenge, Heuron demonstrated the capability to simultaneously acquire neuromelanin and nigrosome-1 MRI images in less than five minutes, a significant improvement over traditional methods that require separate scans and typically take over ten minutes. Heuron’s solution automatically detects and quantifies neuromelanin and nigrosome-1 regions, providing detailed analysis results. Notably, the solution achieved sensitivities and specificities of 90.9% and 94.4%, respectively, and is applicable across all MRI vendor equipment, unlike previous methods.

 

Neuromelanin and nigrosome-1 are critical biomarkers used in diagnosing Parkinson's disease. Changes in these areas are often analyzed to assess the presence and progression of Parkinson's disease and Parkinsonian syndromes. The ISMRM Challenge tasked participants with improving current Parkinson’s disease diagnostic methods using these biomarkers.

 

Dr. Donghoon Shin, CEO of Heuron, stated, “We are thrilled to once again demonstrate Heuron’s global technological capabilities through this prestigious academic challenge. More importantly, this opportunity allowed us to showcase the advanced level of South Korea’s medical AI on the world stage. We remain committed to investing in research and development to ensure Heuron continues to lead the medical AI field.”