- NPP Repeats: The number of imaging studies read by non-physician practitioners is on the rise, and a recent Neiman HPI study suggests that this trend leads to far more repeat imaging exams. The analysis of 1.3M Medicare claims (2013–2022) found patients were more likely to undergo repeat scans within 90 days if their initial exams were read by NPs or PAs, versus radiologists. NPP-read exams’ adjusted odds of repeat imaging were +35% for X-ray, +141% for ultrasound, and +156% for MRI.
- Siemens and Stryker’s Neuro Alliance: Siemens Healthineers and Stryker are teaming up to build a first-of-its-kind robotic neurovascular system. The alliance combines Siemens’ imaging and robotics expertise with Stryker’s neurovascular devices, and will target a range of neuro procedures (specifically naming stroke and aneurysm), with the goals of improving access speed, precision, and outcomes. Siemens and Stryker’s early work will focus on co-developing the integrated ecosystem, and validating its performance.
- Pediatric Imaging’s Blood Cancer Risks: Last week brought yet another alarming study on the downstream cancer risks of imaging radiation. A NEJM study of 3.7M kids from six U.S. and Canadian health systems estimated that ~10% of pediatric blood and bone marrow cancers (nearly 3,000 cases) stemmed from imaging radiation. Over a 10-year follow up, the risk of blood cancers was 1.41X higher for kids exposed to 1-5 mGy of radiation, 1.8X higher with 15-20 mGy, and 3.5X higher with 50-100 mGy exposure.
- Cerebriu’s Big Milestones: MRI AI startup Cerebriu achieved two big milestones, announcing the European CE marking of its Apollo Smart Protocol when embedded in Siemens MRI systems, and landing a €9.4M funding round (total raised now €26.8M). As its name suggests, Apollo Smart Protocol adapts MRI scanning protocols in real time based on detected pathologies, improving scan personalization, efficiency, and completeness. Cerebriu is now setting its sights on global expansion, including a potential FDA clearance.
- CT for Head Trauma Grows with Age: New research highlights the risk of CT overuse in assessing patients with possible head trauma, particularly in older patients. In a study at ACEP Research Forum 2025 of 80.2k patients with mild head injury (2016-2024), 57% got head CT scans. Scan rates went up with patient age (18-64 = 48%, 65-74 = 81%, 75-84 = 87%, and 85+ = 91%), but severe TBI prevalence was more common in younger people (3.8%, 3.3%, 2.9%, and 2.6%, respectively).
- Artrya’s Salix Funding: CCTA AI startup Artrya completed a $53M ($80M AUD) follow-on equity offering to support the U.S. launch of its FDA-approved Salix platform for coronary plaque detection. The fundraising comes just a few months after Salix’s FDA clearance, making Artrya yet another competitor in the rapidly growing CCTA AI plaque detection segment. The funding is also another sign of investors’ faith in CCTA AI startups, which continue to raise sizable rounds (and hefty IPOs) despite slowing investments in other imaging AI segments.
- AMA Releases CPT 2026 Code Set: The AMA just dropped the CPT 2026 code set, which included 418 total changes – 288 new codes, 84 deletions, and 46 revisions. Advanced lab tests and CPT III codes made up the largest share of new codes (both 27%). Notable medical imaging inclusions were new AI codes for analyzing CCTAs to assess coronary plaque and to perform perivascular fat analysis.
- Total-Body PET for Long COVID: Researchers at the University of California, Davis received a $3.2M NIH grant to use total-body PET to study the effects of long COVID. Total-body PET with United Imaging’s uEXPLORER scanner was pioneered at the university, and UC Davis researchers will work with UC San Francisco investigators on kinetic modeling of long COVID, specifically how activated immune T cells penetrate organs and tissues, as well how long COVID damages the inner lining of blood vessels.
- PocketHealth Report Explanations: PocketHealth announced the full North American rollout of its plain-language report explanations feature, which comes integrated into its Unlimited plan and has already been used by 100k patients. The feature leverages AI to provide detailed explanations written at a high school reading level, which are positioned alongside the original radiology report. Radiology reports are intended for other clinicians, but patients are definitely seeing them and getting confused, making this a very logical and patient-friendly feature.
- Multimodal R-AAOCA Exams: A new JAMA study suggests that combining CCTA and functional nuclear imaging might be a better option for assessing right anomalous aortic origin of a coronary artery (R-AAOCA), a relatively rare congenital heart condition that’s currently assessed with invasive FFR exams. In the 55-patients study, CCTA achieved 100% sensitivity and 57% specificity, ruling out 42% of R-AAOCA cases. Functional nuclear imaging then filled in the gaps, achieving 100% specificity and 27% sensitivity, thus reducing the number of patients who need invasive testing.
- ASNC Stands Up to Reimbursement Cuts: The American Society of Nuclear Cardiology advocated against the proposed 57% Medicare reimbursement cut for cardiac amyloidosis imaging. The 2026 reduction would slash payments from $1,300 to $558 per exam due to CPT code 78803’s reassignment to a lower-paying category. The ASNC’s President-elect warned that this threatens access to potentially life-saving diagnostics for an underdiagnosed disease with effective therapies.
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