‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands – 12 February 2026 – TIME named Florent Geerts, Managing Director at Delft Imaging, to the 2026 TIME100 Health List of the World’s Most Influential Leaders in Health.
The 2026 TIME100 Health spotlights the 100 most influential leaders in health this year. As the global order has shifted, these titans, innovators, leaders, pioneers, and catalysts have pushed new ideas ahead to build healthier populations around the world
Geerts is recognised for advancing AI-enabled point-of-care screening across maternal health and lung health in underserved settings.
Screening Pregnancy Complications at the Point of Care
Maternal mortality remains a critical global health challenge. According to UNICEF, a woman dies from pregnancy-related causes approximately every two minutes, with the majority of deaths occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. Many of these deaths are preventable with earlier identification of risk and timely referral.
To address this challenge, Delft Imaging developed BabyChecker, a smartphone-based, AI-guided obstetric ultrasound solution designed for use by frontline health workers. Using a simple six-sweep protocol, BabyChecker enables early identification of high-risk pregnancies, particularly in settings where access to specialist care is limited.
Within just two minutes, the solution can assess gestational age, fetal presentation, and placental localization. Since its introduction, BabyChecker has been scaled across more than a dozen predominantly low- and middle-income countries spanning Europe, Asia, Africa, and Central America.
BabyChecker reflects Delft Imaging’s broader approach: leveraging artificial intelligence and point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) to bring services closer to the community.
Advancing Lung Health Through Ultrasound and AI
Delft Imaging leverages the same integrated point-of-care ultrasound and AI platform to strengthen lung health, enabling earlier screening for tuberculosis (TB) and other respiratory conditions.
Through innovations such as LUS4TB, the organisation supports frontline health workers in using lung ultrasound to triage and identify suspected TB cases at the community level. By applying a shared POCUS and AI framework across maternal and lung health, Delft Imaging connects disease-specific solutions into a broader screening ecosystem that facilitates earlier detection, faster referral, and more efficient patient pathways.
Leadership Grounded in Collaboration
Despite the global recognition, Geerts stresses that meaningful progress in healthcare is always a collective effort:
“I am honoured to be included in the 2026 TIME100 Health list. This recognition reflects the incredible work being done on point-of-care ultrasound and artificial intelligence, and the real-world impact it can have in making pregnancies safer and improving lung health.
“I share this honour with our exceptional team at Delft Imaging and with our partners around the world, with whom we work every day to expand access to quality healthcare. I hope this recognition also helps draw attention to the urgent challenges we are addressing: every day, over 700 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, and 1.2 million people lose their lives to tuberculosis – deaths that are preventable and should no longer be accepted.”
