Medtronic Partners With Stroke Detection Startup Viz.ai

Dublin-headquartered medical device maker Medtronic PLC has signed a partnership agreement with stroke detection startup Viz.ai Inc., the latter announced Monday. As part of the agreement, Medtronic will distribute Viz.ai’s technology in the U.S. The financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Viz.ai develops deep learning and artificial intelligence-powered technology that can analyze brain scans and automatically transfer the information to a doctor to ensure the most immediate treatment for strokes. Viz.ai’s system connects to a hospital CT scanner and alerts the stroke specialist if a suspected large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke has been identified, sending the radiological images directly to their smartphone.

Based in San Francisco and Tel Aviv, Viz.ai was founded in 2016 after one of its founders, David Golan, suffered a brain event. The company has raised approximately $29 million to date.

This is not Medtronic’s first dip in the Israeli tech pool. In September 2018, Medtronic acquired Israel-based surgical robotics company Mazor Robotics Ltd. for $1.34 billion in cash. Earlier that year, it acquired medical visualization company Visionsense Ltd. for $65 million.