Medtronic’s GI Genius Named on Fortune 2022 ‘Change the World’ List

Medtronic’s GI Genius intelligent endoscopy module has been named to the prestigious Fortune 2022 “Change the World” List. The GI Genius module is the first commercially available computer-aided detection system that uses AI to help physicians identify polyps and flag signs of colon cancer that might otherwise be missed, in real time. 

According to Fortune, the annual “Change the World” List includes eligible businesses, academic institutions, and nonprofit organizations that are nominated and ranked based on key criteria, including measurable social impact on one or more specific societal problems; business results and the benefit that the socially impactful work brings to the company; degree of innovation; and how the company’s effort is relative to that of others in the industry.

The Medtronic Health Equity Assistance Program, launched in February 2022, has donated 133 GI Genius units to 62 facilities in low-income and underserved communities across the United States where screening rates are low or where access to the technology is not currently available.

“It is an absolute honor to have GI Genius selected for this prominent recognition,” said Giovanni Di Napoli, president of the Medtronic Gastrointestinal business, which is part of the Medical Surgical Portfolio at Medtronic, in prepared remarks. “At Medtronic, our purpose powers our innovation to develop life-saving medical therapies. This means delivering impact for the diverse global communities we serve. Our expanding AI capabilities at Medtronic create opportunities to deliver against unmet needs, including across the [GI] practice.”

The GI Genius intelligent endoscopy module enhances standard colonoscopies for the more than 10 million US patients who undergo screenings annually. With every 1% increase in precancerous lesion detection rates, the rates of interval colorectal cancer — which is cancer occurring after a negative screening — falls by 3%. A study demonstrated that GI Genius could increase the detection of hard-to-detect precancerous polyps by up to 14.4%, and in the recently published DETECT study, it was shown to reduce the missed polyp rate by nearly 50%.

This is the second time Medtronic has been named to Fortune’s annual “Change the World” list. The company was honored in 2020 for its efforts to increase ventilator production at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.