DiA Imaging Analysis

The problem: a test that depends on the examiner's eye

Ultrasound is a cheap and accessible imaging test, but getting a good image and reading it takes a lot of experience. Many of the measurements are done by visual estimate, and two examiners can reach different results on the same patient. This is how Philips described the problem in 2021: the subjectivity makes it especially hard to track a patient's improvement or decline over time.

Beginnings: an incubator in the south

According to Globes, the company was founded in 2009 in the technology incubator in Ofakim by Dr. Hila Goldman-Aslan, the CEO, and Dr. Michal Yaakobi, the CTO, based on research from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. At first it was called DiA Cardio. By the time of the acquisition it had raised about $25 million, and its largest shareholder was Capital Point, the incubator's franchisee, with 15%. In 2023 it had about 40 employees, with offices in Ramat Gan and Beersheba.

LVivo: automatic analysis of the heart

The company's product line, LVivo, automatically analyzes ultrasound images of the heart and the abdomen, and was cleared for marketing in the United States (FDA) and in Europe (CE). The software runs on the ultrasound machines themselves or on the hospital's information systems, and was designed to let even doctors with little experience produce consistent measurements. By 2023 the company had nine FDA clearances. The latest, in February 2023, was for software that guides non-expert examiners on where to place the probe to get a good image.

The Philips partnership and acquisition

In March 2021 Philips announced a strategic partnership with DiA to integrate the software into its point-of-care ultrasound machines, used at the patient's bedside. According to Goldman-Aslan, Philips also joined as an investor in the company's last funding round. In May 2023 Capital Point reported to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that the company had been sold to a large strategic company, and Globes revealed that it was Philips. According to the report, Philips paid a little less than $100 million, most of it up front and the rest according to milestones. The Israel Innovation Authority was expected to receive $18 million in royalties, three times its investment. The companies themselves did not issue an official announcement at the time. Goldman-Aslan told Globes that the company was not looking to be sold, but saw the deal as a good match.

After the acquisition

In 2024 Philips introduced AI software for cardiovascular ultrasound which, according to the company, includes DiA technology. Its features include automatic measurement of the left ventricular ejection fraction, analysis of heart muscle strain, and automatic scoring of heart wall motion, an assessment that until then had been done subjectively.

What the story teaches

"We were a little ahead of our time," Goldman-Aslan told Globes. In the early years doctors wanted to do the measurements themselves, and the breakthrough came only with portable ultrasound and with the COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed remote testing. The acquisition was part of a wider wave in which device makers bought AI companies for heart ultrasound. GE, for example, acquired Caption Health. According to Cardiac Wire, the logic is simple: demand for tests is greater than the number of skilled examiners, and software that makes the machine faster and easier to use widens the circle of people who can use it.