BURLINGTON, Mass.– Butterfly Network, Inc. (NYSE: BFLY), a digital health company transforming care through handheld, whole-body ultrasound technology, has launched a first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence (AI) Gestational Age tool in Malawi and Uganda. The innovation is designed to expand access to maternal ultrasound care in under-resourced regions of Sub-Saharan Africa by allowing lower-skilled healthcare workers to quickly and accurately estimate gestational age without requiring image interpretation or extensive training.
Developed in partnership with the University of North Carolina and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the new AI-powered blind-sweep Gestational Age calculator has been directly integrated into Butterfly’s app and is already in use by clinicians in Malawi and Uganda. The tool uses a simple blind-sweep ultrasound scan to provide rapid gestational age estimates, helping clinicians determine the right timing for essential interventions, medications, or procedures.
“We are committed to expanding obstetric POCUS adoption in low-resource settings and ultimately improving outcomes for mothers and babies,” said Dr. Sachita Shah, Vice President of Global Health at Butterfly Network. “Our AI-powered gestational age tool is an accurate, fast, and simple way for lower-skilled healthcare workers to help expecting women receive the right care for their stage of pregnancy. Importantly, the model was trained using data from African populations to ensure accuracy and relevance.”
Ultrasound remains one of the most critical tools in pregnancy care for early detection of complications, yet access to this technology is still extremely limited in many low-resource regions. According to the World Health Organization, 92 percent of maternal and neonatal deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. Butterfly’s AI innovation seeks to close this gap by making ultrasound-based care accessible to more frontline healthcare providers, including midwives.
The Butterfly Gestational Age Tool is currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is not yet available in the United States.
Alongside this new technology, Butterfly is marking a milestone year in its efforts to advance maternal health in Sub-Saharan Africa. Through its Gates Foundation–funded 1,000 Probe Partnership, the company has deployed 1,000 iQ+ handheld, whole-body POCUS probes and trained over 1,050 healthcare providers across 697 public health facilities in South Africa and Kenya between September 2022 and December 2024. As of July 2025, the initiative has enabled more than 1.8 million scans — averaging 83,000 per month — in collaboration with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), Global Ultrasound Institute, Kenyatta University, and the University of Pretoria.
Preliminary data from the partnership shows early signs of impact. In Kenya, analysis from Kenyatta University found that after the introduction of Butterfly ultrasound technology, the number of women seeking antenatal care before 24 weeks of pregnancy significantly increased, with over 90 percent reporting satisfaction with the care received. In South Africa, CHAI’s data suggests a notable decline in stillbirths, neonatal mortality, and maternal mortality, with 873 appropriate referrals made to higher-level care facilities and a reduction in unnecessary transfers. In the Eastern Cape province, early analysis indicates a 1.13 percent decrease in stillbirths and a 20.6 percent drop in maternal mortality within a year of training implementation.
Butterfly also announced that its newest device, iQ3™, has been approved for use in South Africa and Kenya. The device combines advanced imaging quality, ergonomic design, and rapid charging capabilities with the company’s AI features, allowing for faster, easier, and more scalable point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) across diverse healthcare environments.
With its AI-driven innovations and partnerships, Butterfly Network continues to strengthen its commitment to expanding access to life-saving obstetric imaging and improving maternal health outcomes across Sub-Saharan Africa.
