South Korean AI company Lunit has signed a license agreement with Taiwan-based insurance firm Cathay Life Insurance to integrate its AI chest x-ray software into the latter's underwriting workflow.

WHY IT MATTERS

The Taiwanese insurer is reviewing around 30,000 chest x-ray images each year and it is in need of a solution that reduces reading time.

Two years ago, it tapped Lunit for a proof-of-concept study to demonstrate the value of its chest x-ray analysis software INSIGHT CXR. The software was evaluated for its impact on Cathay Life's review process in terms of profitability, efficiency, and accuracy.

In the study, nearly 200 chest x-ray images were used as samples in a retrospective analysis using Lunit's software. Following an internal review by Cathay Life's resident radiologists, it was found that the AI tool showed an overall accuracy rate of 90% with a detection rate for positive cases at 83% and 92% for negative cases.

Moreover, employing the Lunit AI was also found to increase the insurance provider's reading accuracy by up to 20% and decrease its overall reading time by up to 90%.

"Lunit's AI algorithm accurately detects small nodules and pulmonary fibrosis, which are not easy to distinguish on chest radiographs," Cathay Life's Underwriting Department added. 

"This is the first time Lunit's AI has been officially integrated into an insurance underwriting process, and this proves that our solutions can also bring value to workflows outside of hospital settings," Lunit CEO Brandon Suh said.

THE LARGER TREND

This announcement followed Lunit's latest partnership in Thailand to deploy both its INSIGHT CXR and mammography tool INSIGHT MMG in Bumrungrad International Hospital. Together with Fujifilm Thailand, it will supply the AI solutions to the hospital using Microsoft Azure. 

Lunit is also set to debut on the Korean Exchange this month after filing a registration statement for an initial public offering in June.

In other news, ICT provider Fujitsu and Salesforce Japan, a customer relations management service company, have partnered to develop new digital solutions for the insurance sector. Specifically, Fujitsu will develop a personalised healthcare service to detect signs of specific diseases using Fujitsu Computing as a Service while Salesforce will leverage its healthcare offerings, such as its CRM system Health Cloud.