MONTREAL,
June 21, 2021 /CNW/
- To help improve equality in access to health care, TD Bank
Group is proud to donate $1 million
to the McGill University Health Centre
(MUHC) Foundation for an innovative project focused on helping
health care access for remote communities.
This project, spearheaded by Dr. Reza Forghani and
Dr. Caroline Reinhold, will use artificial intelligence (AI)
to analyze emergency medical images that require urgent review,
helping to accelerate care and potentially save lives. This new
technology will be mainly used for x-rays and CT scans, which are
the cornerstones of emergency medical imaging and diagnosis.
This donation to the MUHC Foundation is made through the TD
Ready Commitment, the bank's corporate citizenship platform. "We
are determined to increase our investment in research, technology
and innovative solutions that are focused on helping to provide
equality of access to health care. The MUHC Foundation's project is
geared to help improve access to radiology which in turn can help
improve early diagnosis and detection for the benefit of the health
of isolated communities in Quebec," says Sylvie
Demers, Chair, Quebec Market, TD Bank Group.
Using AI to serve patients
While AI technology is being used in radiology to read
medical images and recognize conditions, including detection of
issues that present considerable risk for patients, the MUHC
Foundation underlines that this investment will lead to better
care, less unnecessary transport for patients and more
collaboration between researchers and physicians. The project was
developed by the team headed by Drs. Forghani and Reinhold,
Co-Directors of the Augmented Intelligence & Precision Health
Laboratory (AIPHL) of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) to
prioritize images presenting potentially fatal conditions and
transferring them directly to the medical specialist on duty. The
specialist can then alert the remote hospital of the conditions
that need to be promptly treated, such as a collapsed lung, bowel
perforation or even a stroke.
In a given year, MUHC radiologists examine over 190,000 x-rays,
100,000 CT scans, 40,000 MRIs and 70,000 ultrasounds. They are also
responsible for reading approximately 12,000 x-rays and 1,000
ultrasounds per year for Northern health regions. This new project
will help lighten the load for the MUHC's radiologists while
helping to find medical conditions quickly and with high
accuracy.
"In remote communities, every second counts when it comes to
dispensing urgent care. Knowing that patients who suffer a stroke
in rural communities are 30% more likely to die than patients in
urban areas, this project developed by our experts has the
potential to help save countless lives," stated Julie Quenneville, President and CEO of the MUHC
Foundation.
Thanks to the donation from TD, this initiative will have a
positive impact on the entire McGill Réseau Universitaire Intégré
de Santé et Services Sociaux (RUISSS) including 200,000 individuals
living in the Nord-du-Québec and Abitibi-Témiscamingue regions, for
whom the possibility of being transported to the MUHC is very
limited. Eventually, this project could considerably impact all 7
million Canadians who currently live in rural communities.
About the TD Ready Commitment
TD has a long-standing
commitment to helping enrich the lives of its customers, colleagues
and communities. As part of its corporate citizenship platform, the
TD Ready Commitment, TD is targeting C$1
billion in total by 2030 towards community giving in four
areas critical to helping to open doors to a more inclusive
and sustainable tomorrow – Financial Security, Vibrant Planet,
Connected Communities and Better Health. Through the TD Ready
Commitment, TD aspires to link its business, philanthropy and human
capital to help people feel more confident – not just about their
finances, but also in their ability to achieve their personal goals
in a changing world. For further information, visit
td.com/tdreadycommitment.
About the McGill University
Health Centre Foundation
The McGill
University Health Centre (MUHC) Foundation raises funds to
support excellence in patient care, research and teaching at the
McGill University Health Centre, one of
the top university hospitals in Canada. Our Dream Big Campaign to change the
course of lives and medicine is raising millions of dollars to
solve humanity's deadliest puzzles: infectious diseases; end cancer
as a life-threatening illness; fix broken hearts through innovative
cardiac care; detect the silent killers—ovarian and endometrial
cancers—early; create the best skilled health care teams in
Canada; and much more. We are
rallying our entire community to solve the world's most complex
health care challenges. www.muhcfoundation.com
SOURCE TD Bank Group