- Patients Want Access: A new PocketHealth report (n=242) revealed strong evidence that patients benefit from access to their healthcare information. Before the respondents had access to their medical records, only 27% were able to see their imaging, and among them 64% only received images via CDs and 52% had difficulty sharing images with their care teams. After these patients gained access to their medical records, 77% found it easier to access their imaging and 27% found it easier to share their imaging. Gaining access to imaging also made patients feel more informed, engaged, and have greater peace of mind (75%, 61%, >50%).
- RapidAI’s Hyperdensity FDA: RapidAI secured FDA clearance for its Rapid Hyperdensity AI tool, which allows physicians to use non-contrast CT scans to quickly assess the severity of acute neurological conditions such as traumatic brain injuries and intracranial hemorrhage. Rapid Hyperdensity helps hospitals and mobile stroke teams triage patients by providing additional contextual information, automatically detecting intracranial hyperdensities (>1ml), and allowing results to be viewed through their Rapid mobile app, PACS, or email.
- Micro-US + mpMRI: A new Radiology-published study suggests that micro-ultrasound might prove to be an “attractive addition” to multiparametric MRI for detecting clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa). Among 94 men with suspected prostate cancer, mpMRI and micro-US identified a similar number of men with csPCa (37 vs. 33), clinically insignificant prostate cancer (14 vs. 15), and cribriform / intraductal PCa (14 vs. 13). However, mpMRI avoided far more biopsies (32 vs. 9).
- GE Voluson Expert 22: GE Healthcare unveiled its Voluson Expert 22 ultra-premium women’s health ultrasound system, which launches with improvements to its image quality, operational efficiency, user interface, and user experience. GE specifically highlighted the image quality advantages of the Voluson Expert 22’s Lyric Architecture (higher-res, more detailed, deeper imaging), and the workflow efficiency of its embedded AI apps (reduces key workflows by 65% to 81%).
- Simplifying CXR Transfer Learning: Google Health unveiled its CXR Foundation transfer learning tool, intended to make it easier to train chest X-ray AI models. CXR Foundation uses advanced ML methods to generate pre-trained “CXR networks” that convert CXR images to “embeddings” (i.e. information-rich numerical vectors) that require less data and computational resources for model development. To prove it, Google Health used the tool to train CXR AI models to detect tuberculosis with only 45 CXR images and predict COVID-19 outcomes with just 528 images.
- AdvaHealth & Mach7’s Cloud Alliance: AdvaHealth Solutions and Mach7 Technologies announced a strategic partnership, combining AdvaHealth’s AdvaPACS cloud-native PACS with Mach7’s eUnity zero-footprint diagnostic viewer, creating an end-to-end cloud solution that will likely target AdvaHealth’s Asia Pacific market.
- Viz.ualizing the Contrast Shortage: Viz.ai made the iodinated contrast shortage feel a lot more tangible in a recent post, showing that hospitals that use GE contrast have reduced their overall CTA and CTP study volumes by ~20% and ~60%, respectively. If you’re wondering whether other contrast manufacturers have been able to fill in the GE supply gap, the report’s chart makes it very clear that they haven’t made much of an impact yet.
- CMRI’s Hypertension Biomarkers: A new study out of Singapore showed that cardiac MRI-detected myocardial fibrosis is associated with greater risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes among patients with hypertension. The researchers performed CMRIs on 786 patients with hypertension, finding that 45 (18%) had nonischemic late gadolinium enhancement (LGE). These nonischemic LGE patients had a higher risk of future adverse outcomes (acute coronary syndrome, heart failure hospitalization, strokes, and cardiovascular mortality) within a 39-month median follow-up period (hazard ratio: 6.69).
- Aidoc & UofL Health’s AI Alliance: Aidoc announced a new AI partnership with Kentucky’s UofL Health, revealing plans to integrate six AI modules (ICH, PE, incidental PE, c-spine fracture, rib fractures, intra-abdominal free gas) via the Aidoc AI Care Platform. UofL Health’s Aidoc partnership appears to be part of its increased commitment to imaging AI, coming a few months after the University of Louisville opened its Center for AI in Radiological Sciences (CAIRS).
- Radialis’ Organ-Targeted PET: Radialis announced the FDA clearance of its unique Radialis PET Imager, which images a range of specific organs and anatomy (breast cancer, lymph nodes, neuro, heart, etc.), and is highlighted by its high image quality, support for any PET radiotracer, and small footprint (6×2.5×4.5 ft). Radialis positions its new organ-targeted PET as a complement to traditional PET/CT systems within nuclear medicine fleets.
- Data Breaches Cool Off: Health data breaches have begun to pull back from the record levels set in 2021. Fortified Health Security counted 337 breaches that impacted more than 500 records through the first half of the year (down from 368 last year), but the percentage of incidents linked to malicious attacks climbed from 73% to 80%. Healthcare providers saw the largest share of breaches (72%), followed by business associates (16%), and health plans (12%). It appears that imaging center company, Shields, was responsible for H1’s largest health data breach (2M patients).
