Posted: 4 May 2023
Respiratory imaging technology company 4DMedical Limited announces the successful completion of the first commercial XV LVAS scan within the VA, conducted at Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital in Colombia, Missouri.
First commercial scan at Harry S. Truman Hospital
The Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital is one of 171 major clinical centres within the Veterans Health Administration network. Its pulmonary medicine team regularly diagnose and treat patients with a range of diseases and conditions affecting the lungs, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), long COVID and asthma as well as conditions relating to exposure to airborne hazards such as those from burn pits.
This first scan involved scanning of a U.S. Veteran using the Company’s XV LVAS® (X-ray Velocimetry Lung Ventilation Analysis Software) imaging capability, providing Truman VA physicians with the insight only available through a four-dimensional scan.
Dual strategy for VA engagement
The Company has been applying a dual strategy for VA engagement of simultaneous bottom-up and topdown engagement.
The XV LVAS® scan represents the Company’s first commercial activity within the VA. While not immediately material from a revenue perspective, it demonstrates significant validation of the Company’s bottom-up approach to VA engagement.
As recently as April 26, the Company announced ongoing progress in its top-down down strategy, meeting with senior members of the US Congress. On 23 March the Company sent a delegation to speak with advisors of Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Congressman Raul Ruiz (D-CA25), and to key staff of members of both the Senate and House Veterans Affairs Committees. Veterans’ advocates Rosie Lopez Torres, Le Roy Torres, Kevin Hemsley and Tim Hauser led 4DMedical’s delegation, urged the adoption of XV Technology® through allocation of PACT Act funding, and discussed their recent experiences of receiving 4DMedical scans.
Rosie Lopez Torres, who is also the founder and director of the Veteran advocacy organisation Burn Pits 360, was the Distinguished Guest of Honour at the VA Military Toxin Exposure Conference, hosted by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on 27 March. In addition, Dr Robert F. (Bob) Miller, MD, Professor of Clinical Medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, clinical trial leader and a prominent proponent of XV Technology®, was the keynote speaker.
These recent top-down endeavours build on significant successes in calendar year 2022. In December 2022, the Omnibus Appropriations Bill passed the Senate. The Omnibus Bill enshrines into legislation a directive for the VA to consider ‘emerging technology that uses existing X-ray imaging equipment to derive four dimensional models of lung function to identity respiratory illnesses and accompanying loss of lung function’. As well, the Bill allocates $5 billion for the Cost of War Toxic Exposures Fund, which provides additional funding to implement the US $280 billion PACT Act.
4DMedical CEO and Founder Andreas Fouras said:
A vision to enable better care for Veterans is core to 4DMedical’s mission and culture. I am delighted to share the success of the first commercial scan at Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital, completed by our team working alongside VA medical professionals.
This represents the first commercial scan at a VA Medical Centre, within a network that is larger than the entire hospital system across Australia. Just as importantly, the promise of utilising XV Technology® to inform treatment for Veterans afflicted by respiratory disease has now been demonstrated in a routine VA hospital clinical setting. Furthermore, 4DMedical’s XV LVAS® SaaS platform is extremely scalable, providing a proven basis for our ambitions to deliver rich respiratory health insights across the entire VA. Pursuing this opportunity with the VA is our highest priority.
