IBM「華生」進擊醫療影像分析領域 2015年08月11日 21:36 陳怡均 華爾街日報周二報導，IBM上周宣布收購醫療影像資訊服務業者Merge Healthcare，藉此取得大量資料提供人工智慧平台「華生」（Watson）學習，也意味藍色巨人向醫學影像分析領域跨出重要一步。Merge Healthcare的系統可協助醫師儲存和取得醫療影像，該公司的重要資產為300億張影像，包括X光、斷層掃描、核磁共振造影掃描，IBM想要利用這些資訊「訓練」華生軟體辨識癌症、心臟病等疾病，並期待推出相關服務協助醫師更有效診斷與治療病患。
Shares of International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) moved down 0.68% in early trading session on Tuesday as it intended to buyout of Merge Healthcare Inc., which sells systems that help doctors store and access medical images, is a crucial move in its intension to put artificial intelligence to use in medicine. IBM declared $700 million deal previous week. Merge's crown jewels are 30 billion images, comprising X-rays, magnetic-resonance-imaging scans, computerized tomography that IBM plans to use to train its Watson software to recognize ailments like cancer and heart disease. IBM is betting that the similar technology that recognizes cats can recognize tumors and further signs of diseases. The nascent attempt could help IBM capture a larger slice of the $7.2 trillion spent internationally annually on health care. IBM's deal also could reform the $3 billion market for archiving medical images and breathe life into firms devoted to computer-driven interpretation of images. It underscores the value of such imagery, which typically is anonymzed and shared by hospitals for research purposes, as the software technique known as through learning becomes more prevalent in medicine.
IBM Acquires Merge Healthcare To Upgrade Watson Medical Capabilities By Ted Ranosa, Tech Times | August 8, 7:03 IBM Corp. announced that it has agreed to purchase medical image company Merge Healthcare Inc. for the price of $1 billion and combine it with the company's newly established health analytic's division that is powered by its Watson supercomputer. The technology company said that it plans to acquire images and data collected from Merge Healthcare's own medical imaging management system and combine them with IBM Watson's cloud-based health care computing program. Watson's system is designed to analyze large volumes of data, interpret complex questions stated in natural language and provide answers to these questions based on available evidence. The new agreement between IBM and Merge Healthcare will allow researchers and physicians to collate and examine various data such as the family and medical history of a patient, data on other patients with similar symptoms of illness and clinical studies, trials and findings. Brooks O'Neil, analyst for Dougherty and Co., stated that imaging is a vital aspect to effective diagnosis of illness and treatment. He added that it is increasingly important, however, to share images between health care providers to provide high-quality, cost-effective care. The deal with Merge Healthcare is part of IBM's efforts to aggressively expand in the sector of health care information technology. It is the technology company's third primary acquisition related to health since the launch of its Watson Health division in April. "Organically, we will continue to build and invest from a research perspective in core technologies," IBM Watson vice-president Stephen Gold said. "We will compliment and supplement that with acquisitions." With its latest acquisition of Merge Healthcare, IBM will gain access to 7,500 health care sites in the United States. The two companies said that shareholders of Merge Healthcare will receive $7.13 for each share based on a 31.8 percent premium to Wednesday's close. The medical image company shares were trading at $7.08 for each share by the afternoon, while shares owned by IBM experienced little change at $156.33 per share. "Merge is widely recognized for delivering market-leading imaging workflow and electronic data-capture solutions," Merge Healthcare CEO Justin Dearborn said. "Today's announcement is an exciting step forward for our employees and clients. Becoming a part of IBM will allow us to expand our global scale and deliver added value and insight to our clients through Watson's advanced analytic and cognitive computing capabilities."
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