ECR 2024 kicked off yesterday in Vienna, Austria, with European radiology professionals gathering to celebrate the field and demonstrate the latest in medical imaging research and technology.
As we noted in last year’s coverage, ECR has bounced back strongly from the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- While this year’s attendance numbers aren’t in yet, the rooms and halls of Austria Center Vienna appear to be just as crowded as in the pre-pandemic days.
In particular, the show’s opening ceremony on Wednesday evening was standing room only, with attendees delighting in friendly banter on the future of AI and radiology between congress president Carlo Catalano, MD, and Ameca, an AI-powered animatronic robot.
From a content perspective, this year’s meeting continues a strong focus on AI.
Some highpoints from the first few days are as follows:
- Radiology’s analog-digital frontier was the subject of a fascinating Thursday plenary lecture by Annalise.ai Chief Medical Officer Rick Abramson, MD
- The future of chest X-ray screening in a world dominated by CT – and whether AI can save it – was debated in a special focus session
- Is value-based radiology more than just a vague idea as an alternative to work volume?
- The number of European radiographers reading images and signing their own reports is growing and has become a viable career path
- What’s the break-even cost when using deep learning to analyze CT lung screening scans? It depends on how it’s used
- AI-assisted reading of CT lung cancer screening exams reduced costs 37% when used as a parallel reader and 73% as a first-reader
- How can hospitals reduce waste and their environmental impact?
- Use of the RadConnect communication tool eliminated 53% of radiologist in-person and phone interruptions
- A CT-first strategy for patients with chest pain was more effective than sending them straight to invasive angiography
- A review of AI safety and postmarket surveillance
- Researchers using Siemens Healthineers’ syngo.via Frontier software to analyze contrast CT chest scans were able to differentiate malignant and benign breast lesions (AUC=0.78)
- Early results from the 4-IN-THE-LUNG-RUN trial were presented showing the utility of opportunistic screening for cardiovascular disease from CT lung screening scans
The Takeaway
Based on the first two days, ECR 2024 is off to a great start. We’ll be featuring additional coverage in upcoming issues, so be sure to come back, and check out our YouTube channel and LinkedIn page for video highlights from the conference.
