HP Inc. -- the printer-and-PC business created recently when Hewlett Packard split in two -- wants to get its virtual reality technology into the hands of physicians to help them improve diagnoses and planning medical procedures.
HP's VR machine, called Zvr, isn't your typical VR hardware like the Oculus Rift headset. Rather, it's a 23.6-inch display connected to four cameras that track its user's head movements. A set of glasses turns images into 3D, and a stylus allows the user to move 3D objects around and poke at them.
Now HP hopes to bring the Zvr into the medical world in collaboration with medical software upstart EchoPixel. The Mountain View, Calif.-based startup makes 3D medical visualization software that turns diagnostic scans into 3D models. Those 3D projections of, say, an organ, can then be studied in VR.
The hardware-software partnership is intended to be used to diagnose ailments or assist in planning operations. Typically, EchoPixel CEO Ron Schilling explained, a doctor sits in front of a computer looking at multiple medical imaging scans and tries to make sense of them in 2D. EchoPixel's pitch is that turning these scans into 3D models will help doctors identify overlooked issues. For example, 3D scans could make it easier to identify a polyp, abnormal tissue growth, in an organ.
“There are 600 million image studies done every year using medical imaging devices,” Schilling said in an interview. “Over half of that 3D information is being evaluated as 2D images. But doctors are really struggling to solve 3D problems.”
EchoPixel also said that viewing medical scans in VR can speed up diagnoses. EchoPixel has done clinical studies with the medical group at Stanford University and its software could reduce by 40% the time it takes to diagnose an issue, said EchoPixel CTO and founder Sergio Aguirre.
But before the companies can put the product into the hands of doctors, it needs approval from the Food & Drug Administration. In March, EchoPixel got FDA clearance to sell the software to doctors, but Zvr is still not FDA approved. As a result, HP can only talk about the device in terms of medical education (not making a medical diagnosis).
The partnership will give EchoPixel a big new customer base. Founded in 2012, EchoPixel has raised about $4 million in funding. The HP alliance will help its sales grow four times by the end of 2016, Schilling said. HP already sells millions of PCs and printers to business, and now its salespeople can start throwing Zvr into the mix for medical customers.
For HP Inc., the deal is part of the company's so-called "blended reality" strategy, which is attempting to “unite the physical and digital worlds,” said Reid Oakes, HP's senior director of worldwide healthcare. Another HP product in this area is its Sprout technology -- a desktop computer equipped with a number of sensors and cameras to capture the creations of designers and engineers. "The biggest challenge is figuring how to leverage neat tech and really bring it out to the world," Oakes said.
