10th July 2025

Bloom Standard Awarded $1M Grant to Advance Automated Ultrasound for Resource-Limited Health Settings

Funding from Gates Foundation accelerates development of breakthrough AI-driven imaging technology to improve access and global health outcomes.

Bloom Standard, a clinical-stage medtech company pioneering an AI-driven automated ultrasound platform, announced it has received a $1 million USD grant from the Gates Foundation to further accelerate development of its rapid, automated AI ultrasound system for multiple use cases, including maternal, newborn and child health applications. The company’s flagship RAPIDscan imaging system will empower health care workers who are not experts in ultrasound to rapidly capture images in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) and other resource-constrained settings.

Complications from late, missed or misdiagnosis of medical conditions are responsible for a significant burden of mortality and morbidity globally, particularly for expectant mothers, babies, and children in low-and-middle-income countries. According to the World Health Organisation, two-thirds of the world’s population lack access to essential diagnostic imaging, including ultrasound.

“As a clinician who uses ultrasound every day, I understand the profound impact it can have on the most vulnerable patients, especially in remote and under-resourced environments,” said Ulziikhishig Byambabayar, MD, MHsC, Chief of Neonatal Department, First Maternity Hospital/National Center for Mother and Child Health Mongolia, and National Team Lead for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH), Mongolian Ministry of Health. “Mongolia is one of the largest countries in the world, with 21 states spanning 600,000 miles. It is critical for frontline health workers and public health leaders to have access to tools that can reach patients in areas where higher-level specialists cannot always go.”

“Bloom Standard has demonstrated real momentum in deploying automated, rapid ultrasound scans that deliver more consistent, reliable AI-ready data to enable imaging earlier and whenever needed throughout the patient journey,” added Annamarie Saarinen, co-founder and CEO at Bloom Standard. “With the support of the Gates Foundation and through our continued global health partnerships, this technology can help close the gaps that have kept lifesaving imaging out of reach for vulnerable patients and those who care for them.”

The grant builds on nearly 24 months of collaboration between Bloom Standard and the Gates Foundation, leveraging the team’s deep experience in global health and commitment to removing barriers to ultrasound access across a wide range of health care settings. The grant will focus on developmental milestones in alignment with multiple use cases and Bloom Standard’s mission of providing instantly actionable scans for any user in any setting in less than one minute.

About Bloom Standard

Bloom Standard’s EVA RAPIDscan self-driving ultrasound system is a pre-commercial technology with FDA Breakthrough Device Designation, pending FDA clearance. The user-agnostic, non-invasive ultrasound screening tool combines novel ultrasound-sensor hardware with AI-based clinical decision support software running onboard the device to rapidly acquire and interpret imaging data on the front lines of care.

Previous development for Bloom Standard’s technology has been supported by the FDA-funded Pediatric Device Consortia (PDC) program, including Children’s National Medical Center; the Alliance for Pediatric Device Innovation; the UCSF-Stanford Pediatric Device Consortium: the University of Minnesota Pediatric Device Innovation Consortium; the Stanford Biodesign / Impact 1 Program and the Southwest National Pediatric Device Innovation Consortium – SW (PDIC); Texas Medical Center Innovation; Swansea University School of Medicine, Health and Life Science; the Welsh Government, Mongolian Ministry of Health, Autonomous University of Querétaro, National Health Mission India, and more than a dozen additional academic and clinical partner sites globally.