‘SK Telecom has signed an MOU to introduce X Caliber in collaboration with Canadian pet medical equipment company New On&Nicki and U.S. X-ray equipment distributor My Vet Imaging.’

SK Telecom is officially launching its AI-based pet diagnostic support solution, ‘X Caliber’, in North America’s largest pet market, following its introduction in Australia and Indonesia.

SK Telecom has signed a distribution agreement for ‘X Caliber’ in Canada with Canadian pet medical equipment manufacturer New On&Nicki.

In addition, SK Telecom announced on the 15th that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with U.S. X-ray equipment distributor My Vet Imaging, allowing it to showcase Korea’s AI-based solutions across North America.

New On&Nicki is a joint venture established last October between Canadian pet medical equipment company New On Imaging and radiation equipment and software manufacturer Nicki Health Solutions.

SK Telecom’s ‘X Caliber’ will be integrated with New On&Nicki’s veterinary imaging software, ‘Skyline PACS (Skyline Picture Archiving & Communication System for Vets)’, and will be made available to over 100 animal hospitals in Canada starting in August.

The commercial agreement was signed in Toronto, Canada, with Shin In-hyuk, head of SK Telecom GS AIX, and co-CEOs Mark Little and Mohaier from New On&Nicki in attendance. During the signing, representatives from both companies agreed to create an optimized diagnostic support solution utilizing North American pet data and to collaborate on research for service enhancement.

Mark Little, co-CEO of New On&Nicki, expressed, “We are delighted to introduce an AI healthcare service for pets using Korea’s advanced AI technology to Canada. As AI solutions continue to rise, we hope to lead the AI era in the Canadian veterinary imaging market through collaboration with X Caliber.”

SK Telecom has also signed an MOU with My Vet Imaging for the U.S. market introduction of ‘X Caliber’.

With the MOU in place, the two companies have begun validating the solution (PoC) at a large animal hospital in New Jersey. SK Telecom agreed to finalize a commercial contract within the third quarter of this year, reflecting the needs of U.S. animal hospitals.

According to market research firm Precedence Research, North America represents the largest pet market in the world, accounting for 43.14% of the estimated global pet market valued at $124 billion in 2023, significantly outpacing Europe (26.43%) and Asia (23.38%).

Through its entry into the North American pet market, SK Telecom hopes to rapidly proliferate ‘X Caliber’ and showcase the excellence of South Korea’s AI technology.

As the global rollout of ‘X Caliber’ accelerates, SK Telecom plans to further increase its utility by adding two new AI automatic measurement solutions.

Measuring the heart size of pets such as dogs and cats is known to be an effective way to prevent heart diseases, which are a leading cause of pet illness and death.

Following the existing VHS (Vertebral Heart Scale) automatic measurement, SK Telecom will also launch an AI-based VLAS (Vertebral Left Atrium Size) automatic measurement method for measuring the heart size of dogs this third quarter.

The VLAS feature calculates the size of the left atrium in a dog’s thoracic X-ray, helping determine whether the dog’s heart size is within normal ranges. Clinical evaluations indicated that the VLAS’s accuracy is about 93% (compared to VHS accuracy of 97%), and this feature received approval from the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency on the 25th of last month.

An automated measurement method for measuring heart size in cats, known as CTR (Cardio-Thoracic Ratio), will also be added in beta form during the third quarter. This solution measures the ratio of thoracic and heart length in cat X-rays and serves as an assessment criterion for feline thoracic diseases, particularly hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

These AI solutions enable veterinarians to quickly measure key figures that they previously had to assess manually, maximizing their operational efficiency and reducing consultation times, garnering high interest in the global pet market.

This year, SK Telecom plans to strengthen the competitiveness of ‘X Caliber’ by introducing automatic measurement methods for evaluating knee joint problems such as patellar luxation and cruciate ligament rupture (TPA – Tibial Plateau Angle), as well as the Norberg Angle for assessing hip dysplasia in dogs and cats.

Shin In-hyuk, head of SK Telecom GS AIX, stated, “We hope that the SK Telecom AI healthcare solution will be recognized in the North American market and spread rapidly. Based on SK Telecom’s AI capabilities, we will actively promote K-AI healthcare and provide innovative solutions that tangibly benefit pets.”

Lee Sang-jin daedusj@autodiary.kr