Mr. Hugh MacNaught reports

STUDY TO EVALUATE POTENTIAL TO REDUCE CARDIAC MRI DEMAND AND EXPAND ACCESS TO ADVANCED HEART DIAGNOSTICS ACROSS CARE SETTINGS

Ventripoint Diagnostics Ltd. has entered into a collaboration with Providence Health Care Ventures (PHC Ventures) to validate the company's VMS+ platform at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver, B.C.

The collaboration will evaluate how artificial intelligence-enhanced echocardiography may reduce dependence on cardiac MRI by providing accurate cardiac measurements earlier in the diagnostic pathway, with the potential for a subset of patients to avoid MRI entirely.

Cardiac MRI is widely regarded as the gold standard for accurate heart volume and function measurements, but limited availability and long wait times can delay treatment decisions. VMS+ uses artificial intelligence to generate 3-D heart models from standard 2-D echocardiography images and has demonstrated clinical agreement with MRI-derived measurements in previously published evaluations. The platform is U.S. Food and Drug Administration-cleared and Health Canada-licensed, and operates on existing 2-D ultrasound systems, allowing health systems to increase advanced imaging capacity without capital acquisition of new scanners.

Building on prior clinical evidence

VMS+ has been implemented at sites including the Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto), the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (University Health Network, Toronto) and evaluated in clinical studies at Mayo Clinic, where echo-derived measurements using VMS+ were shown to closely align with cardiac MRI. A poster recently presented at the British Society of Echocardiography 2025 conference demonstrated that VMS+ used for longitudinal assessment of adult congenital heart defect patients generated results comparable to MRI and more accurate than 3D echocardiography.

The collaboration with PHC Ventures aims to validate VMS+ performance within real-world workflows at St. Paul's Hospital -- one of Western Canada's leading cardiac programs -- by comparing VMS+ derived measurements from echocardiography with cardiac MRI, and by evaluating workflow integration, potential reductions in MRI referrals, impact on wait times and associated system-level cost-efficiencies.

"This technology helps identify which patients truly need an MRI and which can be safely assessed using a standard echocardiogram," said Brian Simmers, president of PHC Ventures. "By doing so, we can reduce MRI wait times, lower costs and provide faster access to high-quality cardiac care."

"MRI remains the gold standard for cardiac imaging, but it is not always within reach for every patient," said Dr. Robert Moss, physician lead, echocardiography, St. Paul's Hospital. "The promise of AI-enhanced echocardiography like VMS+ is that it could bring MRI-level precision to a more accessible modality. That means faster diagnoses, more timely treatment decisions, and improved patient outcomes -- especially in communities where access to advanced imaging is limited."

Enabling access beyond major centres

By augmenting conventional ultrasound infrastructure, VMS+ has the potential to extend advanced cardiac diagnostics to rural and Indigenous communities, where MRI access is constrained and patient travel distances are significant. AI-enhanced echocardiography at the point-of-care may reduce avoidable transfers, support monitoring in local settings and contribute to more equitable access to advanced imaging.

"Our vision is to make high-quality cardiac imaging available wherever an echo machine exists," said Hugh MacNaught, president and chief executive officer of Ventripoint. "Partnering with PHC Ventures and the St. Paul's cardiac team enables validation in a leading cardiac centre and creates a pathway to demonstrate health-system impact across settings -- from tertiary hospitals to remote communities."

The collaboration is expected to commence in November, 2025, with implementation beginning in early 2026.

About Ventripoint Diagnostics Ltd.

Ventripoint is an industry leader in the application of AI (artificial intelligence) to echocardiography. Ventripoint's VMS products are powered by its proprietary knowledge-based reconstruction technology, which is the result of a decade of development and provides accurate volumetric cardiac measurements equivalent to MRI. This affordable, gold-standard alternative allows cardiologists greater confidence in the management of their patients. Providing better care to patients serves as a springboard and basic standard for all of Ventripoint's products that guide our future developments. In addition, VMS+ is versatile and can be used with all ultrasound systems from any vendor supported by regulatory market approvals in the U.S., Europe and Canada.

About Providence Health Care Ventures

PHC Ventures is the commercialization arm of Providence Health Care. The group enables the validation and deployment of health innovations by providing access to clinical environments, domain expertise and collaboration within Providence's hospital network, including St. Paul's Hospital and the new clinical support and research centre.

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