AITRICS, a medical artificial intelligence (AI) company, announced on Friday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Medicine CHART and Hong Kong Gleneagles Hospital. The agreement aims to conduct local clinical validation and hospital implementation of its patient deterioration prediction AI solution, VitalCare (AITRICS-VC).
The partnership seeks to verify VitalCare’s clinical effectiveness in Hong Kong and expand its adoption across local healthcare institutions. The three organizations will collaborate, leveraging their respective strengths in AI technology, research capabilities, and clinical expertise.
VitalCare is an innovative medical AI solution that analyzes hospital electronic medical record (EMR) data in real-time to predict patient deterioration at an early stage.
In general wards, the system predicts the risk of acute severe events, such as death, cardiac arrest, or transfer to an intensive care unit (ICU) within 6 hours. It also forecasts the risk of sepsis within 4 hours and cardiac arrest within 24 hours. For ICU patients, VitalCare estimates the risk of death within 6 hours, enabling medical staff to respond swiftly.
The agreement is divided into two key components. Initially, AITRICS and the University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Medicine CHART will conduct a retrospective validation. This involves applying VitalCare to historical medical records of Hong Kong patients to verify its predictive performance.
Subsequently, AITRICS, CHART, and Hong Kong Gleneagles Hospital will evaluate VitalCare’s effectiveness in real-world medical settings. Hong Kong Gleneagles Hospital will implement the solution in its wards, while CHART will spearhead a prospective study involving actual patients.
A retrospective study analyzes pre-existing medical records, whereas a prospective study gathers data by observing patients after the research commences. These complementary approaches will help assess whether VitalCare’s predictive performance, as demonstrated in historical data, holds up in real-time clinical environments.
Through this agreement, AITRICS aims to establish local clinical evidence and successful hospital implementation cases in Hong Kong, paving the way for broader market entry. The company’s long-term strategy involves expanding its operations to Hong Kong’s public healthcare institutions and neighboring Asian markets.
Kim Kwang-jun, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AITRICS, commented that VitalCare has now entered a crucial phase where it can directly verify its effectiveness in local medical settings. This follows the recent approval in Hong Kong, which was based on the extensive clinical experience it has accumulated in Korea. The goal is to collaborate with Hong Kong medical professionals to secure local commercialization cases for VitalCare. These successes will serve as a springboard for expansion into Hong Kong’s public healthcare market and nearby Asian markets.
It’s worth noting that AITRICS received medical device approval for VitalCare from Hong Kong’s Medical Device Control Office (MDD) last year. The company further solidified its presence in the region by establishing a Hong Kong subsidiary in May of this year.
