Liege start-up Osimis has introduced software and interfaces that allow the ultrafast, secure and remote sharing of medical images between different hospitals and experts, regardless of where they are or the device they are using. This technology, now adopted all around the world, offers valuable time savings and efficiencies in the diagnosis and treatment of coronavirus.
If there is a central link in the chain for combatting a pandemic, it is undeniably diagnosis. Hospitals are increasingly using medical imaging, but are often excessively dependent on traditional device manufacturers. This means that the sharing of images and exchanges between experts are slow, heavy going and expensive.
In view of this, Osimis has developed Orthanc, an open source server that has already been downloaded more than 300,000 times in almost 200 countries. Accessible anywhere via an Internet connection, and with no restrictions on the platform or Internet language used, Orthanc and the user interface developed specially by Osimis for doctors allows the secure remote consultation of images and fast, easier exchanges of information between experts in different hospitals.
Osimis, a pioneer in the field of software solutions for medical imaging, and the first spin-off of the CHU in Liège, was created just five years ago to develop a services offer based on this innovative technology. This development now means that it can help several dozen hospitals around the world in their fight against the coronavirus.
"Our goal was to help doctors and patients in the healthcare journey. Our mission has meaning now more than ever. We are very proud that we can offer technology and platforms that allow a more effective effort against the coronavirus, by saving valuable time in the diagnosis and thus the treatment," stated Frédéric Lambrechts, CEO of Osimis.
Developed by Sébastien Jodogne, the current Chief Science Officer of Osimis, Orthanc won an award in 2015 from the Free Software Foundation, in the prestigious setting of the famous MIT in Boston, and also, together with the CHU in Liège, won the award for the best e-Health project, awarded by Agoria.
Many hospitals around the world are now using this innovative Belgian solution. At home, the CHU in Liège, obviously, but also the Institut Jules Bordet, the Saint-Pierre clinic in Ottignies, the CHR Citadelle, the CHC, Érasme hospital, the CHU Saint-Pierre, and others have already contacted Osimis. In Brazil, the Belgian start-up is serving at least 50 hospitals. And its success does not stop there, as its technology is also being exported to the United States, China, Germany, France and elsewhere. In addition to hospitals, the start-up's clients already include Google, General Electric and the global proton therapy leader, Belgian company IPA, which have ordered modifications of the Orthanc code so they can be integrated into their industrial processes. Nvidia, which specialises in the design of graphic cloud processors, has just announced that it is using Orthanc intensively for its artificial intelligence platform.
Press contact: Frédéric Lambrechts fl@osimis.io