AI partnership aims to bring earlier detection and better coordination to MS care, marking Viz.ai’s first step into neurodegenerative disease.
Is the ‘read and wait’ MRI coming to an end? For decades, one of medicine’s most powerful diagnostic tools has also relied on one of its oldest methods: human observation.
A patient has an MRI. A radiologist studies the scan. Months (or even years) later, another scan arrives and the process repeats. Detecting neurological decline often comes down to comparing images side by side and asking a deceptively simple question: Does this brain look different from before? But what if we stopped relying on what the eye can catch and started measuring every change instead?
That is the question raised by a new collaboration between Viz.ai and Cortechs.ai. The companies are bringing quantitative brain imaging into Viz.ai’s AI-powered care coordination platform, beginning with multiple sclerosis (MS) [1]. On paper, it is a software integration; in practice, it hints at a future where brain aging and neurological disease are tracked with numbers rather than educated guesses. It also signals Viz.ai’s first major step into neurodegenerative disease, a field where earlier detection could mean preserving years of healthy brain function rather than simply reacting once symptoms become impossible to ignore.
Seeing what the eye can miss
Multiple sclerosis has long challenged clinicians because much of its damage happens quietly. A person may notice worsening fatigue, slower thinking or subtle changes in movement, while routine imaging appears relatively unchanged. The disease often progresses beneath the surface before those changes become obvious enough to stand out on a traditional scan.
Think of it like watching a coastline slowly erode. Looking at two photographs taken years apart, you might notice some differences, but you would struggle to say exactly how much land has disappeared. Now imagine surveying the coastline with precise measurements every time. Tiny changes suddenly become visible, trends emerge and future risks become easier to anticipate.
That is the role quantitative imaging aims to play. Instead of simply displaying MRI pictures, Cortechs.ai’s NeuroQuant and NeuroQuant MS software measure changes in brain structures and lesion burden, turning images into objective data that clinicians can track over time. Rather than asking whether something looks different, physicians can begin asking how much has changed and whether that change warrants a different treatment strategy.
Connecting the dots, not just collecting data
Generating better data is only half the challenge. Healthcare is full of moments where valuable information gets stuck between systems. A scan is completed. A report is written. A referral is sent. Weeks later, the patient finally reaches the specialist who needs to see the results. Those delays matter, particularly in diseases that continue progressing while patients wait.
Viz.ai has built its business around solving that communication problem. Its platform, already used in nearly 2,000 hospitals across the United States, helps ensure that the right clinical information reaches the right care team quickly.
Integrating NeuroQuant directly into that workflow means quantitative MRI findings no longer remain isolated inside imaging software. Instead, they become part of the wider clinical conversation.
“Viz.ai’s core mission has always been to increase access to life-saving treatments. It’s about getting the right information to the right care team member, at the right time, to improve patient outcomes,” said Dr Tim Showalter, Chief Medical Officer at Viz.ai. “This collaboration with Cortechs.ai extends that commitment into neurodegenerative disease, an area with profound unmet need and enormous potential – particularly where earlier patient identification and disease characterization can meaningfully change the treatment trajectory. We see this as the foundation for something much bigger, and we’re just getting started.”
In other words, the technology is not simply trying to produce smarter scans. It is trying to reduce the gaps between diagnosis, specialist review and treatment – closing the cracks where patients can too easily disappear.
A network effect for brain health
One of the more interesting aspects of the partnership has little to do with imaging itself. Viz.ai’s platform already reaches nearly 2,000 hospitals, giving it an unusually large footprint across the US healthcare system. Rather than asking hospitals to adopt another standalone AI product, Cortechs.ai’s technology will enter an existing network that clinicians already use. That creates the possibility of scale that healthcare innovation often struggles to achieve.
Kyle Frye, CEO at Cortechs.ai, believes connected platforms – not isolated AI tools – represent the future.
“Cortechs.ai is building NeuroQuant into the leading platform for neuro quantification and analysis by providing the trusted intelligence layer that enables healthcare innovators to seamlessly integrate clinically validated quantitative imaging into their own solutions,” he said. “We believe the future of healthcare AI will be built on connected platforms, not isolated point solutions. Our partnership with Viz.ai is a powerful example of that vision, combining Viz.ai’s care coordination platform with the trusted quantitative insights of NeuroQuant and NeuroQuant MS platforms to accelerate innovation, enhance clinical decision-making, and ultimately improve outcomes for patients.”
Whether quantitative MRI eventually becomes the new clinical standard remains to be seen. As AI becomes embedded into everyday clinical workflows, the biggest transformation may come from giving clinicians better measurements, faster communication and fewer opportunities for patients to fall through the cracks.
[1] https://www.viz.ai/news/viz-ai-expands-into-neurodegenerative-disease-with-cortechs-ai-collaboration
