American medtech firm GE HealthCare has received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for more than $44 million to create user-friendly, artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted ultrasound imaging auto-assessment tools.

These tools will seek to aid healthcare professionals, even those without specialised training or experience with ultrasound, with clinical decision information to support more effective obstetric and lung screening ultrasound scans across maternal and fetal care as well as pediatric lung health, with a goal of expanding access to low-and-middle income countries (LMICs) and across diverse sites of care.

Caption Health, a leader in medical AI acquired by GE HealthCare in February 2023, will design this technology to run across a range of ultrasound devices and probes, including lower-cost handheld devices.

Currently, Caption Health offers Cardiac Guidance software, which is FDA cleared. With the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant, Caption Health will develop multiple lung ultrasound and obstetric algorithms through clinical validation and regulatory submissions.