International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) has acquired enterprise image sharing applications provider Merge Healthcare, Inc. for $1 billion.

Founded in 1987 and publicly listed since 1998, Merge provides solutions to improve the healthcare experience for patients, providers and payers, ranging from Integrated Delivery Networks (IDNs,) remote radiology centers to specialized practices and more, covering specialties such as radiology, cardiology, orthopedics and others.

Merge’s technology platforms are said to be used at more than 7,500 U.S. healthcare sites, as well as world-leading clinical research institutes and pharmaceutical firms to assist in the management of a growing body of medical images.

The company is not one that most would equate IBM taking an interest in, but there is logic to the acquisition: in IBM’s terms Merge will give their cognitive technology platform Watson the ability to “see.”

Watson’s advanced image analytics and cognitive capabilities, combined with data and images obtained from Merge’s medical imaging management platform means that users of the Watson Health Cloud will be able to surface new insights from a consolidated, patient-centric view of current and historical images, electronic health records, data from wearable devices and other related medical data.

IBM said it plans with access to the Merge’s image technology to leverage the Watson Health Cloud to analyze and cross-reference medical images against a deep trove of lab results, electronic health records, genomic tests, clinical studies and other health-related data sources, already representing 315 billion data points and 90 million unique records.

The insights generated by Watson having access to Merge’s image technologies will be able to assist healthcare providers in fields including radiology, cardiology, orthopedics and ophthalmology in delivering more personalized approaches to diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of patients.

“As Watson evolves, we are tackling more complex and meaningful problems by constantly evaluating bigger and more challenging data sets, ” IBM Research and Solutions Portfolio Senior Vice President John Kelly said in a statement. “Medical images are some of the most complicated data sets imaginable, and there is perhaps no more important area in which researchers can apply machine learning and cognitive computing.  That’s the real promise of cognitive computing and its artificial intelligence components – helping to make us healthier and to improve the quality of our lives.”

The deal, which equates to $7.13 per share in cash, is subject to regulatory review, shareholder approval, and other customary closing conditions, and is anticipated to be finalized later this year.

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