Augmenting Beyond The Status Quo.

Nine years ago, Dr. Waël Hanna, world-renowned thoracic surgeon and Division Head at McMaster University, set out to make lung cancer staging better. That pursuit led him to develop the Canada Lymph Node Score, a clinical framework to improve EBUS accuracy. It was a meaningful step forward. But it had one fundamental limitation: it couldn't scale. It required expert interpretation.

The eureka moment came unexpectedly. Glancing at his phone one day, Dr. Hanna watched it unlock at the sight of his face. A single thought followed:

"If my phone can unlock just by looking at my face, why can't we use that same technology to tell us whether a lymph node is malignant or benign?"

‍That question brought him to Dr. Anthony Gatti, an expert in neural networks and musculoskeletal imaging. Anthony took on the challenge and built an algorithm that could do exactly that. The science was compelling however science alone doesn't reach patients.

To bring NodeAI to life, they needed someone who could build a company. They found that in Mackensey Bacon, an emerging leader in Canada's health innovation ecosystem, known for her expertise and her determination. In late 2023, NodeAI was born.

Since then, the team has grown, the platform has matured, and our goal to become the global standard for lymph node staging has never wavered.