Marubeni has invested in Enlitic via third-party allocation of shares. In December 2018, the company has entered into an exclusive business alliance with Enlitic to develop and commercialize AI deep-learning backed image diagnosis system for the Japanese market.
Enlitic’s system is said to apply deep learning and the latest AI technology to medical data to support doctors diagnose disease as malignant tumors. These can be detected through image diagnosis more faster than earlier methods.
The AI-backed system has been specifically designed to be used for chest x-rays, which are reported to have multiple cases of misdiagnosis.
Marubeni noted that Enlitic had data related to over 10 million cases and is also involved in the development of an image diagnosis system related to cranial/chest CT imaging and mammography imaging.
The system is believed to hold capacity to enhance the efficiency of the image diagnosis and screening process, as well as improve accuracy through early detection and reduction of misdiagnosis.
Marubeni is also planning for further business development of this system in Japan with and select additional business partners, enabling to promote the efficiency of medical image diagnosis.
According to Marubeni, the global digital healthcare market, including imaging diagnosis, is expected to reach $10bn in size by 2020.
Marubeni will focus more on licensing and promoting Enlitic’s product in Japan. It will help the company to develop a remote medical diagnosis online platform with the function of data collection and management to offer generic remote imaging diagnosis service to de-populated areas.
Marubeni reorganized the IoT big data strategy team in April 2017 and formed the new digital innovation department to develop new business models with the support of digital technology.
To support the initiative, the company is planning to work with various AI savvy medical partners to build this platform into a comprehensive AI prophylaxis and diagnosis service for digital healthcare industry in Japan.
