Innovation is part of Sectra’s identity. Ever since the company was spun off from the Institute of Technology at Linköping University in the late 1970s, scientific advances have formed the basis for our commercial solution development. Our core strategy is to embrace the latest academic achievements, while achieving our own scientific discoveries and supporting our customers’ research initiatives.
We maintain a high pace of innovation, and the research conducted at Sectra is a vital part of our innovation efforts. Our research department conducts and participates in projects to produce clinical evidence for existing technology as well as to create new products. Our team of scientists—most with PhD degrees or higher—develop knowledge, methods and prototypes that pave the way for product development. The main scientific domains covered by our in-house expertise are artificial intelligence, image analysis, visualization, human-computer interaction and informatics. Research projects are often conducted together with universities, hospitals and strategic partners around the world. Sectra regularly takes on a leading role in initiatives to attract research and innovation funding.
As a Sectra customer, you can boost your research and innovation activities in several ways. The imaging IT platform we provide is excellent for many research needs. Numerous academic customers deploy a separate system as a sandbox for exploratory work, such as developing AI-based applications or conducting reader studies. The open interfaces mean that you can easily integrate your self-developed solutions for realistic validation.
There are also possibilities for collaborations involving Sectra’s expertise. For early adopters of innovations from the Sectra labs, there are both academic opportunities for putting them to use and operational gains to be made thanks to rapid adoption. When strategic agendas align, Sectra is no stranger to engaging in joint projects aimed at creating the clinical toolset of tomorrow. Our philosophy is to engage in close, long-term relationships where every step of the way is a win-win experience in itself—but also paves the way for developing a more in-depth, mutually beneficial collaboration with increasingly greater returns.
Sectra has established a unique “triple helix” of innovation with the Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization (CMIV), a cross-disciplinary research center at Linköping University Hospital. Sectra, a co-founder of CMIV, here collaborates closely with its academic and clinical counterparts on focused, front-line research. The mission is to develop methods and tools for image analysis and visualization to solve the clinical challenges of tomorrow.
AI is an underlying theme in much of the research department’s work. Our researchers are working on solutions that combine AI and visualization, focusing on how physicians control and adjust computer results. Among other projects, Sectra is one of the main participants in the Swedish initiative AIDA, Analytic Imaging Diagnostics Arena. The project serves as a national arena for research into AI for medical image analysis, with the aim of leveraging the full benefits of AI-based tools in the Swedish healthcare sector.
Two of our researchers are also participating in another large-scale Swedish AI initiative called WASP, Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program. Sectra is contributing research in diagnostic imaging so that AI can move from the laboratory to providing real value in the healthcare sector.
We are also cooperating with Visual Sweden, which is on the way to becoming a world-leading hub for innovation in image analysis and visualization, with close cooperation between industry, academia and the healthcare sector.
In addition to AI research, Sectra is also participating in a major initiative in the field of orthopaedic surgery. The aim of the project portfolio, including numerous collaboration partners in healthcare and academia, is to develop image-powered, high-precision methods for orthopaedic surgeries, both for pre-operative planning and post-operative follow-up.
Sectra’s research efforts often result in scientific publications, a great vehicle for engaging in and benefitting from the academic community. Out of the 100+ publications from Sectra’s research department and its collaborations over the years, a few representative examples are presented below.
Interested to learn more, or to schedule a meeting and/or demo? Don’t hesitate to get in touch.
