Nicolab partners with Health New Zealand to launch national AI-powered stroke study

Wellington, New Zealand – Nicolab today announced a landmark partnership with Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora, Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley, and the University of Otago, Wellington, to roll out its AI-powered stroke imaging and workflow solution, StrokeViewer, across up to 30 hospitals nationwide. This multi-centre initiative, led by Professor Anna Ranta, will evaluate the impact of rapid AI-assisted brain scan interpretation on stroke treatment rates and delays, with the goal of improving outcomes for thousands of New Zealanders each year.

Funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand, the project directly supports the government’s vision for digital innovation in healthcare. The study will compare treatment rates and ‘door-to-treatment’ times before and after StrokeViewer implementation. If successful, the project is expected to enable an additional 850 patients annually to access time-critical reperfusion therapy, with minimum short-term health sector savings of NZD $5 million and projected long-term societal savings of up to NZD $40 million per year.

The project is designed as a national, mixed-methods pre- and post-implementation study. It will measure not only reductions in treatment delays and increases in intervention rates, but also feasibility, user acceptability, and cost implications. Importantly, the project places a strong emphasis on addressing inequities in stroke care, particularly for Māori and rural communities. Integrating AI decision support into acute stroke pathways aims to close these gaps and ensure equitable access to life-saving treatments across the country.

For Nicolab, this project provides a unique opportunity to demonstrate the value of StrokeViewer in a real-world, national setting. The project represents one of the largest evaluations of AI-assisted stroke care ever undertaken in New Zealand. By embedding StrokeViewer into routine clinical practice across a diverse range of hospitals, the study will generate robust evidence on its impact at scale. The findings are expected to directly inform the future design of New Zealand’s national stroke service and could set a precedent for other countries seeking to integrate AI into acute care pathways.

The collaboration represents Nicolab’s first nationwide deployment in New Zealand and underscores the company’s growing footprint across the Asia Pacific. By combining world-leading AI technology with the expertise of New Zealand’s stroke leaders, the project will generate critical evidence to inform the National Stroke Network’s future service planning and national procurement of AI imaging solutions.

“This initiative is about more than technology, it’s about improving access to life-saving treatment for stroke patients across the country,” said Michael Macilquham, CEO at Nicolab. “The market is moving toward large-scale procurement of scalable, cloud-native solutions. Nicolab is well-positioned to meet this challenge across New Zealand. We’re proud to partner with Health New Zealand and Professor Ranta’s team at the University of Otago on a project that has the potential to set a new benchmark for acute stroke care worldwide.”

More information:
https://www.hrc.govt.nz/resources/research-repository/optimising-acute-stroke-care-artificial-intelligence