Butterfly Network, Kansas State University to Advance Cattle Health with AI-Powered Disease Management
Kansas State University joins Butterfly Garden to co-develop a Cattle Disease Management App for Bovine Respiratory Disease, exclusively compatible with Butterfly’s iQ+ Vet imaging platform.
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Burlington MA and Manhattan, KS, April 30, 2025 – The Beef Cattle Institute at Kansas State University and Butterfly Network, Inc. (NYSE: BFLY), a digital health company transforming care with portable, semiconductor-based ultrasound technology and intuitive software, today announced an agreement to co-develop a Cattle Disease Management App for exclusive use with Butterfly’s handheld, whole-body ultrasound system. The collaboration represents K-State’s entry into Butterfly Garden, Butterfly’s artificial intelligence (AI) Marketplace as the first App in Butterfly Garden for Animal Health.
This initiative aims to equip veterinarians and producers with an AI-powered tool for diagnostic and prognostic decision-making, starting with Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD). The app will integrate innovative lung ultrasound techniques pioneered by K-State's Beef Cattle Institute and tested with the Butterfly iQ+ Vet device. BRD is the leading and most costly disease in post- weaned beef cattle, responsible for over $2 billion in annual economic losses due to morbidity, mortality, and production inefficiencies.1,2 Accurate diagnosis is challenging due to overlapping symptoms among syndromes, and timely identification of disease progression is critical for effective treatment and management decisions.
“Bovine respiratory disease is a challenging syndrome and the ability to provide additional information on each case can be valuable to animal health decision makers,” said Brad White, K-State Beef Cattle Institute Director. “The opportunity to gain more information has to be balanced with the ability to efficiently and effectively assess cattle disease state in a field setting.”
By providing real-time diagnostic insights, the AI-solution aims to improve antimicrobial stewardship, animal welfare, and operational efficiency in diverse cattle-handling environments. Butterfly’s handheld ultrasound device was identified as the best-fit imaging platform for these environments due to its unmatched durability – designed to withstand the rigors of chute-side environments (e.g., dust, dirt, drops or fluctuating temperatures).
“Kansas State University entrance in Butterfly Garden exemplifies how Butterfly’s technology and AI Marketplace can drive meaningful innovation beyond traditional healthcare,” said Jenna Mutch, Vice President, Veterinary at Butterfly Network. “By combining cutting-edge imaging technology with Kansas State’s expertise in bovine health, we aim to equip producers and veterinarians with real-time tools to improve cattle health outcomes and drive sustainable practices in livestock management.”
To learn more about Butterfly and BCI’s research collaborations and the prognostic value of POCUS in cattle treated for respiratory disease, click here to read about recent studies.
About Beef Cattle Institute
The Beef Cattle Institute (BCI) at Kansas State University utilizes collaborative multidisciplinary expertise to promote successful beef production through the discovery and delivery of actionable information and innovative decision support tools. The BCI includes faculty and students from a variety of areas of expertise including nutrition, epidemiology, economics, animal welfare, pharmacology, toxicology, and animal health. The focus of BCI is to combine knowledge from each of these areas to provide holistic answers to industry applicable questions.
About Butterfly Network
Founded by Dr. Jonathan Rothberg in 2011, Butterfly Network is a digital health company with a mission to democratize medical imaging by making high-quality ultrasound affordable, easy-to- use, globally accessible, and intelligently connected, including for the 4.7 billion people around the world lacking access to ultrasound. Butterfly created the world's first handheld single-probe, whole-body ultrasound system using semiconductor technology, Butterfly iQ. The company has continued to innovate, leveraging the benefits of Moore’s Law, to launch its second-generation Butterfly iQ+ in 2020, and third-generation iQ3 in 2024 – each with increased processing power and performance enhancements. The disruptive technology has been recognized by TIME’s Best Inventions, Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas, CNBC Disruptor 50, and MedTech Breakthrough Awards, among other accolades. With its proprietary Ultrasound-on-Chip™ technology, intelligent software, and educational offerings, Butterfly is paving the way to mass adoption of ultrasound for earlier detection and remote management of health conditions around the world. Butterfly devices are commercially available to trained healthcare practitioners in areas including, but not limited to, parts of Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America; to learn more about available countries, visit: www.butterflynetwork.com/choose-your-country.
Beef Cattle Institute Contacts Brad White, Director bwhite@vet.k-state.edu
Luis Feitoza, Clinical Assistant Research Professor lffeitoza@vet.k-state.edu
Butterfly Business & Technology Inquiries: Jenna Mutch, VP Veterinary, jmutch@butterflynetinc.com
Butterfly Media:
Liz Learned, Head of Corporate Communications
media@butterflynetwork.com
Butterfly Investors:
Heather Getz, Chief Financial and Operations Officer
investors@butterflynetwork.com
Endnotes
1 Powell J.2013. Livestock health series: Bovine respiratory disease. Div. of Agri. Fact Sheet FSA3082. University of Arkansas. Fayetteville, AR. http://www.uaex.edu/publications/pdf/FSA- 3082.pdf.
2 Wilson, B. K., C. J. Richards, D. L. Step, and C. R. Krehbiel. 2017a. Best management practices for newly weaned calves for improved health and well-being. J. Anim. Sci. 95:2170– 2182. doi:10.2527/jas.2016.1006