Imatronix-AI Mission

Our team was initially formed at UCSF in 1976 with the goal of improving the accuracy of CT scans to provide quantitative diagnostic information about the heart and body. Crucial to this aim was to improve the speed of CT scanning to eliminate the artifacts and image error caused by motion during the scan. In 1976 the fastest CT scanners under development had a scan speed of six seconds or more, and were not suitable for imaging the body due to motion artifact. We began a journey of improving the speed of CT through the introduction of Electron Beam CT (EBCT) technology that initially had a scan speed of  50 and 100 milliseconds. The first commercial scanner was the Imatron C100/150/300 series of scanners and hundreds of these were installed at leading hospitals throughout the world until 2002 when Imatron was sold. In 2007 we founded a new company, Imatrex Inc with the objective to reduce scan speed to 25 milliseconds, and increase the coverage to 16 cm of 1 mm slices acquired simultaneously. This advance was based on the introduction of Dual-Source EBCT (DSEBCT). Two prototype scanners were produced and were in the FDA testing phase when the project was interrupted by the War in Ukraine. Although DSEBCT was fast enough for accurate Cardiac CT, it was still a large and expensive machine. Subsequent to the end of the Imatrex project, the team devoted its efforts to a new form of single-source EBCT that retains many of the advantages of DSEBCT but is far more compact and less expensive. This project is currently under development at Nautilus X-ray CT. 

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When the new Nautilus scanners become available motion artifacts in CT will be largely eliminated which paves the way for far more accurate CT numbers that will enable the use of Deep Learning methods for AI training of automated CT diagnostic algorithms. In a parallel effort our team members developed the first CT airport cargo scanners, which are now in wide use in airports throoughout the world for checkpoint and cargo baggage inspection. These systems utilize sophisticalted AI based automated detection algorithms for the purpose clearing cargo as safe for air transport.

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We plan to use the new 25 millisecond CT technology in conjuction with the newest AI detection technology to greatly extend the accuracy and capability of Computed Technology to a wealth of new applications.