This week’s European Congress of Radiology is underway in Vienna, and things are heating up in the cozy confines of Austria Center Vienna.
The theme of this week’s meeting is Planet Radiology, and conference organizers have made sustainability a major priority.
- As one of healthcare’s biggest consumers of energy, radiology has a responsibility to lead efforts to reduce greenhouse gases – a challenge that ECR 2025 president Prof. Andrea Rockall compared to the discipline’s successful effort to reduce radiation exposure.
Planetary health was the focus of a glitzy opening ceremony on February 26 before a standing-room-only crowd.
- The program featured not only the musical and dance performances that are an ECR hallmark but also awe-inspiring videos that focused on each of the four planetary elements: water, air, fire, and earth.
But scientific content has always been ECR’s main draw, and ECR 2025 so far hasn’t disappointed. Below are some highlights from the first two days of clinical presentations …
- New data from the MASAI study of AI for mammography screening were presented Wednesday, finding that ScreenPoint Medical’s Transpara algorithm cut interval cancers 12%.
- Using AI instead of double-reading for biennial digital mammography screening saved $64k per 1k patients thanks to lower cancer treatment costs.
- The MA-DETECT study of 350 women used breast MRI on women with negative mammograms, with a cancer detection rate of 26 additional cancers per 1k women.
- Aidoc’s AI algorithm for detecting cervical spine fractures on CT found 23 fractures missed by radiologists out of 2.3k scans, saving €6k per missed fracture.
- Gleamer’s BoneView AI algorithm for fracture detection detected 81% of fractures missed by radiologists in patients who had filed compensation claims, potentially saving €265k.
- The percentage of AI research studies with peer-reviewed evidence grew in 2023 compared to 2020 (67% vs. 35%) but the ratio showing clinical efficacy fell (52% vs. 55%).
- Subtle Medical’s SubtleHD MRI enhancement algorithm improved signal-to-noise ratio by 73% and image sharpness by 27% in 205 MRI scans.
- In a secondary analysis of the MIDAS study of clinical decision support in Germany, requests for inappropriate imaging were more frequent in women than men (7.3% vs. 6.1%).
- A majority of patients in Italy preferred ChatGPT-authored reports over those penned by radiologists (61%), with 70% saying they were more readable and 58% saying they were easier to understand.
- Researchers found that oral glucosamine could be used for breast MRI exams with a chemical exchange saturation transfer sequence. They found higher CEST values in tumor regions in a small study of 16 patients.
- Italian researchers combined CT and contrast-enhanced mammography with the same contrast agent, finding higher sensitivity and specificity for detecting metastases than traditional methods.
- German researchers ran a 0.4T permanent magnet MRI scanner off the grid for a year with solar panels and a generator-supported battery system.
- Using deep-learning reconstruction for MRI scans reduced energy consumption 65% thanks to shorter scan times while maintaining image quality.
- More patients preferred contrast-enhanced mammography (72%) compared to breast MRI (26%), mostly due to faster exam times and lack of claustrophobia.
The Takeaway
This week’s ECR 2025 demonstrates the rich scientific research being conducted across Europe – much of which will eventually translate into commercial products. As the U.S. experiences regulatory turbulence and uncertainty around long-term funding for academic research, the focal point of radiology innovation could soon shift across the Atlantic.
