(Ramat Gan, Israel)- In an on-going effort to find technologies that will rapidly accelerate the process of identifying the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), ARC@Sheba Medical Center announced that in an initial clinical trial, where hundreds of patients were tested, Newsight Imaging’s revolutionary spectral device, which can identify and classify evidence of a virus in the body in less than a second, achieved a 95% success rate.
Newsight’s innovation manifests in the ability to bring an expensive device (hundreds of thousands of dollars), to be implemented in a single cost-effective chip, using an AI algorithm to separate the profile of a human infected with a specific virus, from a human infected with a different virus or from a healthy human. Newsight’s device simultaneously checks 1024 spectral channels, currently in the visible light spectrum of 400-700 nm. During the span of the on-going trial, the company plans to present a device that will be capable of examining a spectral profile in wavelengths of up to 1100 nm. Patents for the company’s technology were already registered worldwide.
Sheba’s ARC, an acronym that stands for-Accelerate, Redesign & Collaborate, has become a global medical innovation leader in the battle against COVID-19, highlighted by its ground-breaking telemedicine and digital health technologies. ARC is actively engaged in testing and implementing a range of cutting-edge anti-COVID technologies at Sheba Medical Center.
Newsight, which is based in Ness Ziona (Central Israel) and Sheba’s ARC Innovation Center is also establishing a joint company called VIRUSIGHT DIAGNOSTICS LTD.that will make the COVID-19 test and other ground-breaking solutions commercially available to the medical community around the globe.
“Under laboratory conditions, we were clearly able to differentiate between COVID-19 samples that were positive and those that were negative, with a 95% percent accuracy rate. For a new AI-based technology such as this, the results are quite encouraging,” said Professor Eli Schwartz, of the Center for Geographic Medicine and Tropical Diseases at ShebaMedical Center, who is leading the trial.
Eyal Yatskan, CTO & Co-founder Newsight Imaging revealed, “The corona pandemic forced us to be extremely creative. With our team of experts in chip design, optics, and microbiology, in a great collaboration with Prof. Schwartz and his team, we were able to utilize our ground-breaking advantages in the machine vision world, validated in our 3D technology, into the spectral analysis world, and specifically to virus detection. Our AI-based solution is unique as we have developed all the technology solutions starting from a spectral chip, through its firmware, boards, and of course AI algorithms.”
“We are very excited about this collaboration between Sheba Medical Center’s ARC program and Newsight. I am confident that given Newsight’s leading technology and ARC’s innovative approach and ecosystem of collaborators, we will able to provide cutting-edge diagnostic solutions that could be transformative in our battle with COVID-19 and beyond. ARC, which stands for Accelerate, Redesign and Collaborate, aims to bring to market game-changing innovation, and Newsight is a perfect partner to join the ARC global ecosystem,” added
Dr. Eyal Zimlichman, Deputy General Director, Chief Medical Officer, and Chief Innovation Officer.
About Sheba Medical Center
Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer is the largest and most comprehensive medical center in the Middle East. Sheba is also the only medical center in Israel that combines an acute care hospital and a rehabilitation hospital on one campus and is at the forefront of medical treatments, patient care, research, innovation, and education. In 2019 & 2020 Newsweek magazine named Sheba one of the top ten hospitals in the world. To learn more, visit: eng.sheba.co.il.
About Newsight Imaging
Newsight Imaging Ltd (nstimg.com) develops advanced CMOS Image sensor chips for 3D machine vision and spectral analysis. Newsight’s depth camera sensors for machine vision serve verticals such as Mobile, Robotics, Industry 4.0, Automotive Safety and Surveillance. Its unique eTOF™️ technology enhances the short distance iTOF and provides accurate depth sensing for longer distances even outdoors. In addition, Newsight developed a spectral chip backed by AI technology, demonstrated in the SpectraLIT™️. The SpectraLIT™️ offers a unique and affordable solution for remote health, real-time diagnosis, and quality inspection solutions for Water, Food& Beverage, etc. Newsight has already sold a license to develop virus and bacteria detection devices based on its technology, to Hong Kong company AIinnoBio, founded by the super-investor Dr. George So. The company has 14 US and EU patents, was named “Cool Vendor” in the Nobel sensors category by Gartner, and received 3 grants by the Israeli Innovation Authority.
