2011 Finalist: Outstanding Achievement In Applied Technology And Innovation Sponsored By SAIT
Cardiologists And Patients Benefit From An Accurate, Efficient Suite Of Imaging Tools
Inspired by doctors and developed in collaboration with medical professionals, Circle Cardiovascular Imaging Inc.’s (Circle CVI) software is changing how physicians view cardiac images, and how they obtain quantitative data from the images and use it to form better diagnostic reports and treatment plans.
Founded in 2007, the Calgary-based company develops analytical software to meet the needs of the cardiovascular imaging (CVI) community. Circle CVI’s software suite – cvi42 -meets the highest industry standards, is based on a deep understanding of users’ needs and features outstanding algorithms and functions within a remarkable user interface.
Becoming a Global Leader
It is clearly an understatement when CEO Greg Ogrodnick says his small dynamic team “gets stuff done”. In just three years, the company has become a leader in the global CVI market. “What we are doing is the best in the world and it is being adopted by the best cardiac centres in the world,” he says. “We have created a tool that helps patients and improves efficiency in the healthcare system.”
Medical imaging has enabled cardiologists and radiologists to effectively detect and diagnose CVD. As image quality improves, so does the diagnostic accuracy potential, shifting away from being simply a visualization evaluation, to include a quantitative analysis.
“Software that is not optimized wastes time and can lead to inaccuracies in patient diagnosis,” Mr. Ogrodnick explains. “The less time it takes to perform a diagnosis, the more time the physician has available for other cardiac activities including treatment and overall patient management.”
Tackling a Serious Issue
Circle’s cvi42 product suite saves lives and time, and improves efficiency of the healthcare system by eliminating the need for additional diagnostic procedures. It provides a range of functional viewing and measurement tools specialized to facilitate efficient qualitative and quantitative evaluation of cardiac imaging studies. These tools have been developed by experienced medical imaging professionals and are optimized for clinical workflow. The first software in the product suite, cmr42 was designed for use in Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR).
In 2005, the World Health Organization reported 17.5 million deaths worldwide as a result of cardiovascular disease (CVD); this figure is forecasted to increase to 20 million by 2015. CVD is expected to be the leading cause of death in all developing countries for some time.
Across the World
“Our product suite has global penetration,” Mr. Ogrodnick says. “We are in 18 countries and cmr42 is currently being used at some of the top heart centers and medical universities in the world.” Leading hospitals using cmr42 include Harvard Medical School (US), University of Leipzig (Germany), Mie University (Japan), Bichat Hospital (France), Flinders Medical Centre (Australia), Montreal Heart Institute (Canada), and Mazankowski Heart Institute (Canada), among others.
Back in Alberta, Circle CVI is contributing to diversifying the economy and helping to bring a robust technology sector to the province. “We need success stories and world-class companies that have a presence on a global scale,” Mr. Ogrodnick says. “Circle CVI is part of a medical imaging hub in Calgary. The expertise and excellence exists here. We’re helping to build that.”
