Subtle Medical, a Menlo Park, California-based medical device startup, has received FDA clearance for its SubtlePET solution, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance medical images.

SubtlePET allows imaging providers to perform faster scans, which Subtle Medical said makes patients more comfortable “while boosting exam throughput and provider profitability.”

“Focusing Subtle Medical's SubtlePET AI platform on faster image acquisition, we have been able to dramatically increase PET scan efficiency and provide a superior patient experience,” Michael Brant-Zawadzki, MD, of Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, California, said in a prepared statement. “SubtlePET technology allows us to scan a patient four times faster than normal, yet maintain equal image quality, not otherwise impacting work flow. This creates immediate ROI benefit for our hospital and a compelling value proposition.”

"This FDA clearance is a key milestone in Subtle Medical's mission to bring novel and empathetic deep learning to improve patient satisfaction," Enhao Gong, PhD, founder and CEO of Subtle Medical, said in the same statement.

Additional Subtle Medical products are currently in development, according to the statement, including Subtle MR, which is being designed to “significantly accelerate MRI scans.”

Back in March, Subtle Medical won Nvidia’s AI startup contest.