An Edinburgh tech firm has been awarded funding to develop an AI tool to help vets make an earlier diagnosis of canine osteoarthritis – which affects up to 20% of dogs worldwide.
Veterinary diagnostics company MI:RNA is being backed by Scottish Enterprise to spearhead research in combining biological markers and artificial intelligence to create non-invasive tests to accurately and cost-effectively diagnose the condition.
Osteoarthritis is one of the most common conditions affecting dogs but remains difficult to diagnose. Current diagnostic methods rely on clinical observation and imaging, which are often invasive, expensive, and subjective.
This project will tackle these problems by testing and confirming a set of disease indicators found in the blood that, when paired with advanced modelling, can more precisely identify the presence of OA. By enabling earlier detection, the new approach could significantly improve clinical outcomes and quality of life for affected animals.
This funding will allow MI:RNA’s research team to utilise blood samples selected dogs, equally split between those diagnosed with OA and healthy controls. This work will be supported by Morris Animal Foundation’s Golden Retriever Lifetime Study.
Robert Coultous, chief scientific officer at MI:RNA, said: “This project brings benefits to the wider veterinary world by combining the precision of microRNA profiling with the power of advanced modelling. We aim to give veterinarians a smarter and faster way to detect osteoarthritis, improving outcomes earlier for dogs. The tool will improve diagnosis while reducing the need for complex imaging or subjective interpretation.
“Not only can we detect the disease, but also stage it and, in the future through a larger study, we can validate the prediction element as well as the ability to monitor the effectiveness of treatment. For the estimated 10 million dogs and their owners in the UK, this means earlier diagnosis, more effective treatment and healthier pets.”
Derek Shaw, director of entrepreneurship and investment at Scottish Enterprise, said: “MIRNA shows how collaboration across research, enterprise, and investment can spark pioneering work. Helping ambitious early-stage companies like this to scale up and bring their technology to market is at the heart of what we do. It’s fantastic that Scottish Enterprise could be part of MIRNA’s journey as it makes huge strides in improving animal diagnostics through this osteoarthritis study, and in turn animal health.”