News from Floy

Schneider sagt, KI in der Radiologie anzuwenden sei keine komplett neue Idee. Daher habe die medizinische Zulassung „nur“ ein Jahr in Anspruch genommen – wer die Branche kennt, weiß, dass andere Startups sich bei den Zulassungsbehörden Jahre lang die Zähne ausbeißen. Neu und für den Erfolg des Produkts entscheidend sei das Business-Modell, sagt Schneider. Zum einen biete man eine Softwarelösung an, die „wirklich einen signifikanten medizinischen Mehrwert bietet“ und, der die Diagnose der Mediziner zusätzlich absichert. Zusätzlich verspricht Floy, auch wirtschaftlichen Mehrwert zu schaffen: „Entscheidend ist, dass wir das Thema erstmals wirtschaftlich attraktiv für die Praxen gestalten“, sagt der CEO. Floy verspricht für eine bessere Diagnosequalität finanzielle Belohnung. Zusätzlich fänden Patienten es „großartig, wenn Ärzte fortschrittliche Technologien nutzen“. Das schaffe zusätzliches Vertrauen – und führe zu positiver Mundpropaganda.

Floy - Germany
Floy is an AI-driven tool that helps radiologists spot issues that would otherwise be undetectable. Today, when patients purchase an MRI or CT scan, the radiological images are underutilised because radiologists only have the time to look for the specific diagnosed issue and do not check for other issues. Floy's software checks radiological images in the cloud and reports additional abnormalities that are hard for humans to spot in a short period of time.

"Our partnership with Evidia is a great step for AI to become the industry standard in radiology. We look forward to positively touching many patient lives together with Evidia," said Benedikt Schneider, founder and CEO of Floy. "We see Floy as a competent and forward-looking partner for the implementation of AI in diagnostic imaging for the benefit of our patients," said Dr. Christian Wiedemeyer, COO of Evidia, summarizing the new partnership.

Munich Startup: What have been your biggest challenges so far?
Leander Märkisch: One big challenge is the sales processes to Germany's largest radiology chains. Over a long period of time, our product, concept and company have been examined and evaluated several times from all perspectives down to the last detail. We are glad that we have already won over Evidia and RH.

This is how the AI works: The artificial intelligence detects and marks abnormalities in the study. By learning from millions of data sets and radiological experience, Floy's AI reduces the risk of missing tumors or other important abnormalities. Prof. Thomas Henzler, MD (Professor of Radiology and Chief Medical Officer of RH - Diagnostics and Therapeutics) comments, "Even for the most experienced radiologists, some lesions are invisible. Floy has been supporting us very successfully for more than a year in sustainably optimizing our diagnostic quality."

And the willingness of radiologists to integrate AI programs into their daily work is steadily increasing: Floy is already cooperating with more than 100 practices. To date, investors have therefore provided a total of 3.4 million euros. By the end of this year, Floy's now 30-strong team aims to be profitable. Nevertheless, the founders are considering an additional round of financing to accelerate growth and also tap the international market.

How deeply is Floy integrated into the on-site workflow?
BS: Floy does not cause any relevant additional effort. At registration, the patient receives detailed information material and a treatment contract. If he accepts the service, the AI can be activated either with one click in RIS or after the examination from the familiar PACS environment.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is on the rise in medicine. More and more projects and products are leaving the research stage and reaching market maturity. From psychology to surgery to AI-assisted diagnosis by radiologists, AI is already an integral part of these areas of medicine.
Floy - Floy is a Munich-based startup that has developed powerful software for analyzing radiological images using artificial intelligence.

Radiologists usually have only a few seconds per image to detect subtle changes in a sea of hundreds of shades of gray. This is also confirmed by radiology professor and Chief Medical Officer of RH - Diagnostik und Therapie in Stuttgart, Thomas Henzler: "Even for the most experienced radiologists, some lesions are invisible. Floy supports us very successfully in sustainably optimizing our diagnostic quality."

About Floy - Benedikt Schneider teamed up with Leander Maerkisch to cofound Munich-based Floy, which has developed an artificial intelligence-based virtual assistant to offer second opinions to radiologists. The software is certified as a medical device in the EU and is currently used by over 90 radiologist clinics in Germany.

Cologne - A quick glance at the CT or MRI image - and on to the next image. This is everyday life in the approximately 1000 radiology practices in Germany. "An examination is always about a certain symptomatology, which the radiologist looks at according to his trained pattern," says Benedikt Schneider, co-founder of Floy. "But abnormalities can also lie outside this radiological focus."