BrainSightAI Newsletter Q4 - FY20-21

We've deployed our signal-processing tool VoxelBox on the GE platform, filed a patent, forged new partnerships, finished training for the BIRAC study, cleared 1st round MedTech Innovator Challenge.

Apr 21, 2021

Jan-Mar has been a challenging time for the world and India. But as Henry James had so beautifully written “Before the sufferings of others we are utterly powerless, but we are determined not to speak with you, except with the voice of stoicism.” With that, here is our update for this quarter, which as usual has been a whirlwind!

Product Updates

VoxelBox - rsfMRI signal processing at a click

We know processing of rs-fMRI is challenging, which is why despite its potential, so many clinicians and researchers don’t use it. So we decided to solve this one problem well and built VoxelBox, a one-click solution for rs-fMRI processing. VoxelBox has been architected to allow for asynchronous access to our high-fidelity signal processing tool deployed on a Kubernetes backend.

VoxelBox is now officially available on GE’s EHL platform. What is even more exciting is that it has been chosen for commercialization by the GE team. We are deeply grateful to our mentors at GE for helping us in this process. If you are interested in being a Beta user, please drop us a note.

VoxelPods - Building VoxelBox communities

We are building Voxelpods. VoxelPods are communities of doctors, patients, researchers built around specific extensions of VoxelBox.

VoxelPod - Dementia

We have built a mind-blowing extension to VoxelBox - VB+Dementia - which allows for functional mapping of patients and inferring early stages of Dementia. The REST-API for this has been deployed on GE's EHL platform. For early access, write to us.

We have officially kicked off our clinical study for VB+Dementia, funded by a Govt. of India BIRAC grant, in collaboration with Max Hospital in New Delhi. The kick off was preceded by an intensive 8-session training program for the research team, which included the neurologists, radiologists, psychologists and clinical coordinator at the hospital. The training covered important topics such as informed consent, data storage, and data governance, preparing the team to collect good quality data in an ethical manner following Good Clinical Practices.

We also did a series of citizen-science session for caregivers of Dementia from Feb 21- Mar 20. We had over 50 people sign up across the country and conducted 8 sessions overall, which included sessions on a lot of topics, and you guessed it - the use of resting-state fMRI in early diagnosis of dementia.

Our speakers included

Dr. Sushma Chawla, Founder-Director, Hope Ek ASHA

Neha Sinha, CEO and Clinical Psychologist, EPOCH Elder Care

Dr. Abhimanyu Chandak, Psychiatrist

Stuti Chakraborty, Occupational therapist

Amrita Pimpale, Founder, Echoing Healthy Ageing

Madhura Satam, Clinical Psychologist, Echoing Healthy Ageing

Ruchi Sharma, Product Officer Manager, BrainSightAI

If you are interested in getting screened for Dementia and would like to contribute to research please reach out to simran.rana@brainsightai.com.

VoxelPod - Brain Tumor

We have been exploring really interesting use-cases around the use of rs-fMRI in Brain Tumor. The possibilities are documented here. We have built one of these extensions, and have filed our 6th patent for exploring functional and structural dynamics in Brain Tumor cases.

We are in conversation with leading doctors to conduct studies using VB+Brain Tumor for pre-surgical mapping of visual, motor and language areas. We will soon be announcing our partnerships for these disorders. If you are interested in collaborating, please drop us a note.

Upcoming VoxelPods - Epilepsy and Autism

Based on requests from so many clinicians, we have been building our white papers on use of VoxelBox in Epilepsy and Autism. Keep a lookout!

Team

We are expanding our team and are lucky to have Dr Ranganayaki Sathyanarayan and Somesh Chopdekar join us this quarter. Dr Ranganayaki will be handling all our research efforts, and Somesh is working on integrating cutting-edge visualization for our fMRI reports.

We also welcome Dr Mazda Turel as a consultant neurosurgeon. Dr Mazda K. Turel is a practicing Neurosurgeon at the prestigious Wockhardt Hospitals, South Mumbai, India. He is also an Honorary Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the Grant Medical College and Sir J.J. Groups of Hospitals.

Btw, Dr Sunil Kalmady, our computational neuroscience advisor’s work covered in the media. You can read about it here.

Events

We were one of 20 startups chosen worldwide for the Medtech Innovator Challenge.

We also had our GE Demo Day. It was such a gala event and we really enjoyed speaking about all the exciting things we have been working on.

We presented our innovative approach to product-building at the Sangath monthly conference

We are now preparing for our first joint conference with Dassault Systemes on neuroscience and advanced brain visualization. The conference was slated for World Neurosurgeon Day but had to be postponed due to COVID.

Internal Processes

We have officially kicked off the process of setting OKRs in the team, suggested by our advisor Dinesh Shenoy. It has been great, and has helped each one of us focus on our priorities.

In these tough times, we have also been making sure that Friday’s are a day for all of us to bond. Here are some of the fun pictures from our weekly Friday check-ins.