Cardiac MRI is one of the most powerful imaging tools for assessing heart function, but it’s difficult and time-consuming to perform. Could automated AI planning offer a solution? A new research paper shows how AI-based software can speed up cardiac MRI workflow.
Cardiac MRI has a variety of useful clinical applications, generating high-resolution images for tissue characterization and functional assessment without the ionizing radiation of angiography or CT.
- But cardiac MR also requires highly trained MR technologists to perform complex tasks like finding reference cardiac planes, adjusting parameters for every sequence, and interacting with patients – all challenges in today’s era of workforce shortages.
Cardiac MRI’s complexity also increases the number of clicks required by technologists to plan exams.
- This can introduce scan errors and produces inter-operator variability between exams.
Fortunately, vendors are developing AI-based software that automates cardiac MR planning – in this case, Siemens Healthineers’ myExam Cardiac Assist and AI Cardiac Scan Companion.
- The solution enables single-click cardiac MR planning with a pre-defined protocol that includes auto-positioning to identify the center of the heart and shift the scanner table to isocenter, as well as positioning localizers to perform auto-align without manual intervention.
How well does it work in the real world? Researchers tested the AI software against conventional manual cardiac MR exam planning in 82 patients from August 2023 to February 2024, finding that automated protocols had …
- A lower mean rate of procedure errors (0.45 vs. 1.13).
- A higher rate of error-free exams (71% vs. 45%).
- Shorter duration of free-breathing studies (30 vs. 37 minutes).
- But similar duration of breath-hold exams (42 vs. 44 minutes, p=0.42).
- While reducing the error gap between more and less experienced technologists.
In their discussion of the study’s significance, the researchers note that most of the recent literature on AI in medical imaging has focused on its use for image reconstruction, analysis, and reporting.
- Meanwhile, there’s been relatively little attention paid to one of radiology’s biggest pain points – exam preparation and planning.
The Takeaway
The new study’s results are exciting in that they offer not only a method for performing cardiac MR more easily (potentially expanding patient access), but also address the persistent shortage of technologists. What’s not to like?
