#16 - Making ultrasound portable to transform medical imaging - Ohad Arazi - Clarius

Impulse - Meeting Healthcare Pioneers

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Starting a career in the Israeli army, becoming a lawyer, and finally transforming the field of medical imaging.

In a very schematic way, this is what might define Ohad Arazi’s path, who is now spearheading the field of handheld ultrasound as the CEO of Clarius.

His curiosity for medical imaging - coupled with a very product-oriented mindset and an unrelenting desire to understand the problems that healthcare faces - leads him to integrate different structures, including the Fortune 500 giant McKesson, the Canadian telecommunication company Telus, and the Israeli startup Zebra Medical Vision, where he quickly occupies leadership roles with great responsibility.

At Clarius (this “true gem” as he calls it in his own words) he draws on his expertise in the field of medical imaging to embed artificial intelligence into the most compact high quality ultrasound imaging platform on the market, developed by its brilliant founder Laurent Pelissier.

The goal? Allowing any healthcare professional to perform an ultrasound scan, with a system as intuitive, qualitative, and compact as an iPhone. Perhaps those will even find their place in patient’s homes at some point!

In light of the current boom in digital health and the radical developments in AI, Ohad shares his perspective on the role that these technologies will have on certain medical specialities and notably radiology, where he believes that they will rather augment them without replacing them. He also explains why he thinks that most technological capabilities in digital health are outstripping the value they can create, and reflects on his career path where his transitions from huge corporates to human-sized startups shaped his evolution and leadership.

A surprising dive into the future of medical imaging, that we invite you to discover in this new episode!

Timeline:

• 02:23 - Ohad’s background, from the military in Israel to healthcare in Canada
• 10:46 - What the medical imaging landscape looked like in the early 2000s
• 14:51 - Ohad’s take on the current boom in digital health
• 19:36 - Clarius’ mission in transforming high-end ultrasound for healthcare professionals
• 33:11 - How AI is embedded into the products from Clarius
• 35:09 - Dealing with hypergrowth as a medical imaging startup
• 39:48 - Ohad’s reflections on his career path and the story of the Disney brothers

What we also talked about with Ohad:

• OpenAI
• Turtle Health
• US2.ai
• PACS
• DICOM
• EHR
• James Hare
• Carolyn Lam

We cited with Ohad some of the past episodes from the series:

• #1 - Measuring your arterial age to prevent heart diseases - Ted Baldwin - Imageens
• #12 - Unleashing the power of digital health - Daniel Kraft - Digital.Health

As mentioned in the episode, you can learn more about Clarius through their website and follow their activities on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube!

If you want to get in touch with Ohad, feel free to contact him per email at [e-mail] or through LinkedIn.

If you want to give me feedback on the episode, ask questions or suggest potential guests, feel free to do so through LinkedIn or per email at [e-mail].

And if you liked the episode, don’t hesitate to share it, subscribe to the podcast and leave a positive review on streaming platforms!

Finally, you can follow our activities through our website, over LinkedIn, Twitter or on Instagram!