As a global leader in health technology, Philips, or Royal Philips, has opened a collaboration programme for 19 start-ups to join the Philips incubator program. The initiative is a global collaboration working across the Philips innovation hubs across the world with the focus on improving AI in healthcare.
The global collaboration program includes intelligent treatment for radiology, oncology and ultrasound. It also covers AI clinical decisions support tools such as image interpretation, analysis and workflow tools. Out of 750 applicants, 19 of the most promising start-ups were selected for the incubator program.
How it works
The fast-track program takes place over 12 weeks. During this time Philips will engage with all of the early stage start-ups, which come from 14 different countries. Throughout the intensive 12-weeks, Philips will help to build, test and scale ideas while also looking for possible collaborations to support with the start-up’s success. The start-ups not only benefit from the expertise of Philips but they can also access the knowledge within the Philips ecosystem which has financial, academic and hospital partners.
The Head of Philips Healthworks, Alberto Prado, explains that; “We are already working closely with clinical partners to develop AI-enabled solutions that are grounded in scientific research and validated in clinical practice. This new collaboration program recognises the role that start-up companies play in bringing breakthrough healthcare innovations to the market.”
Patient-Centred AI
While AI has already proven its ability to improve patient outcomes and the efficiency of care, it is important not to lose sight of the patient-centred approach. For AI to be successful in healthcare, the developers must have a close collaboration with the care providers who will use their tools and software.
Philips understands this and refers to AI as ‘adaptive intelligence’ where they combine the technologies with the knowledge and context of where they will be used. As a result, they hope to create integrated solutions that adapt to the needs of healthcare providers.
To help AI continue to grow in healthcare, Philips has created an AI platform called Philips HealthSuite Insights. The tools and technologies within the platform can help to build, scale, maintain and deploy AI solutions. Some features of the platform include deep learning applications and machine learning.
Accelerating breakthrough innovation
With the collaboration programs, Philips aims to speed up breakthrough innovation within the health industry. They are doing this through supporting internal venturing and external start-up engagement. This current fast track program hopes to foster start-ups and offers the potential for future collaborations.
Furthermore, the collaborations benefit Philips as they provide an in-depth view of the latest AI developments in the healthcare setting. This can help the team of venture capital investing; Philips Health Technology Ventures as well as the start-ups looking to partner with the organisation.
