UQ diagnostic tool wins prestigious IT award

Ex-Ray, a novel e-technology that utilises speech, text and in the future image to quantitatively screen for and monitor a wide range of psychiatric and physical conditions, was last night awarded a prize in the prestigious “Secrets of Australian IT Innovation Competition 2003”.

The award, presented by Senator the Hon Richard Alston, Minister for Communications, IT and the Arts, was won in the E-Health category, for innovative products or services related to the health industry.

Ex-Ray was developed by UQ Researchers and renowned experts in the field of E-Health Professors Joachim Diederich and Peter Yellowlees.

“There is currently no simple tool on the market for the screening and diagnosis of mental health disorders at the primary care level. The Ex-Ray technology places in the hands of the GP a tool akin to an expert psychiatrist that enables them to improve the accuracy of their diagnosis,” Professor Diederich said.

Given that the tool might assist in the diagnosis, screening and monitoring of a range of disorders that affect up to 16% of the population, such as depression, schizophrenia, mania, dementia, delirium, drug psychoses, stroke, ataxia and a number of neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, there is an enormous world-wide market for the tool.

“The test is PC based, requiring a 2-5 minute descriptive speech and/or image sample from the patient as input data. Data is then analysed and classified through the use of machine learning techniques to assist in the diagnosis, and the results are ready immediately,” Professor Yellowlees said.

A small patient trial has been undertaken on the application of the technology to the diagnosis of mental health disorders, with funding currently being sought to progress the clinical trial process. UniQuest Pty Limited, UQ’s main technology commercialisation company, is assisting the inventors to pursue various funding options.

“This award will help build the profile of Ex-Ray among potential commercial partners, which we hope will help us source funding to bring the tool to market within the next three years,” said UniQuest’s Managing Director, David Henderson,

The “Secrets of Australian IT Innovation Competition 2003” is sponsored by DEST, DITR, Backing Australia’s Ability and a range of other government and corporate sponsors.

For more information, contact Anne-Marie Birkill at UniQuest, telephone 07 3365 4037 or Jan King at UQ Communications 0413 601 248.