Prenuvo CEO Andrew Lacy on why they’re making MRI a proactive modality.

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Enterprise imaging is mainly adopted in the largest hospitals, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Check out this Imaging Wire Show featuring Novarad product leader Dave GrandPre, where we discuss what’s caused this divide and why smaller hospitals should adopt enterprise imaging.

Longevity Imaging

Prenuvo’s Longevity Imaging Funding

There are few medical imaging segments with more momentum among the general public than longevity-focused MRI screening, and Silicon Valley startup Prenuvo just raised a $70M Series A round to capitalize on that momentum.

Prenuvo’s imaging centers help longevity-minded individuals detect health problems early, combining full-body MRI exams, AI analysis, and radiologist interpretations to screen for over 500 conditions (catching most solid tumors while still Stage 1). 

• Prenuvo places a high emphasis on the patient experience, including comfort, entertainment, exam speed, and patient-friendly reporting, all reportedly at a “fraction of the cost of traditional MRI screenings.”

• Already growing at a 240% annual rate, Prenuvo will use its new funding to expand its AI team, accelerate its technology development, build its custom MRI scanners, and grow its presence from 6 to 16 imaging centers nationwide.

Many radiologists have made it clear that they don’t approve of proactive screening, noting the high risk of overdiagnosis and unnecessary radiation exposure (w/ CT screenings) when patients undergo just-in-case scans. 

However, there are enough stories about proactive exams catching early diseases and enough people who want to live as long as possible to inspire a growing field of longevity imaging startups, including BrainKey (brain longevity), Ezra (cancer screening), Q Bio (overall health), and Human Longevity (overall health).

The Takeaway

Whether radiologists like it or not, there are plenty of people who want to maximize their longevity and there’s apparently plenty of venture funding available to longevity imaging startups ($70M is a huge Series A for an imaging startup in 2022). 

We might still be early in the longevity imaging trend, but if it intensifies it would mean a lot more imaging exams, a growing source of early diagnoses (and incidental findings), and potentially greater longevity for the patients who can afford these services.

Canon Across America

Check out this Imaging Wire Show featuring Canon Medical Systems’ David Hashimoto, exploring how Canon is connecting with imaging teams and working to address their needs.

The Standardized Imaging Experience

Ready to solve your imaging standardization problem? Join UTHSA’s Informatics Vice Chair, Dr. Kal Clark, on November 10th when he’ll discuss his experience as one of the first systems to use Enlitic’s Curie|ENDEX software.

The Wire

• Spectrum Dynamics’ High-Energy SPECT/CT: Spectrum Dynamics added high energy isotope imaging to its list of capabilities (400 keV energy range), with the launch of its new VERITON-CT 400 Series Digital SPECT/CT. The new scanner integrates Kromek’s CZT detectors into Spectrum Dynamics’ SPECT/CT design (3600 ring-shaped gantry, wide-bore, 12 swiveling detectors), enabling a wider range of nuclear medicine applications (e.g. total body, brain, and heart).

• TeraRecon’s Eureka Update: TeraRecon launched its next-gen Eureka Clinical AI Platform, which combines a suite of clinical AI solutions (3rd party, TeraRecon-made, and customer-developed), TeraRecon’s desktop and mobile viewers, and new care team coordination infrastructure. TeraRecon became one of the first AI platform vendors with the launch of EnvoyAI in 2017 (renamed Eureka in 2020), and the updated Eureka Clinical AI Platform appears to bring a more-integrated approach to TeraRecon’s AI strategy.

• Imaging Cost Variability: A Michigan State-led study in Radiology revealed widespread (and counterintuitive) cost variations for commercially covered radiology services. The researchers found that the average maximum negotiated rate within a given hospital was 3.8x higher than the minimum rate for the same exams, while various plans from the same commercial payer within the same hospital had a 1.2x average negotiated price gap. The authors suggest that this might be due to some payers’ “less efficient” negotiation capabilities, and warn that it might motivate hospitals to direct patients towards higher-cost exams.

• Synapsica Detained & Downsized: India-based AI startup Synapsica is having a particularly bad month, which a yourstory.com article reports started with police detaining its CEO and COO for alleged financial fraud, and ended with Synapsica laying off 30% of its 100-person team. Synapsica says there is no connection between the two events, as the layoffs were due to “not optimal” business conditions and the executives’ ongoing detainment was due to another co-founder’s “personal vendetta.”  Synapsica was part of YCombinator’s 2020 class and raised $4.2M in mid-2021 to develop its Radiolens radiology report generation platform.

• ACC’s Chest Pain Decision Pathway: The ACC released a new document outlining how to best apply AHA/ACC’s 2021 chest pain guidelines, which as many remember placed a larger emphasis on imaging-based assessments. The 36-page Expert Consensus Decision Pathway document provides adoption recommendations at the institution and individual patient levels, including a decision-making algorithm for selecting the appropriate imaging tests.

• Us2.ai Joins Aidoc’s aiOS Platform: Echo AI software company Us2.ai is joining Aidoc’s aiOS medical imaging AI platform, marking Us2.ai’s second AI platform partnership (after Blackford) and expanding Aidoc’s cardiovascular AI capabilities (joining Aidoc’s PE, DVT, aortic dissection, and aortic aneurysm solutions). The alliance continues Us2.ai’s recent momentum following its FDA and CE clearances, Series A round, and global commercial launch. It also continues Aidoc’s notable AI platform expansion.

• Female Physician Compensation: Medscape’s latest Female Physician Compensation Report revealed that 52% of female physicians feel unfairly compensated compared to their male counterparts, and they do still earn less (n = 13k physicians). The report showed that 2022 compensation climbed 8.1% for female PCPs (avg. salary $228k) and 8.5% for female specialists ($307k), but there’s still a long way to go before reaching parity with male PCPs ($285k) and specialists ($402k).

• CAUS for Liver Disease: New research out of the Netherlands found that using calibrated ultrasound (CAUS) to analyze 2D liver ultrasound exams for hepatic steatosis could prove to be a noninvasive alternative to liver biopsies. The researchers evaluated 9 CAUS parameters across 98 liver ultrasound exams, finding that the Residual Attenuation Coefficient parameter accurately detected steatosis (AUC: 0.97) and predicted which patients had moderate or severe hepatic steatosis (AUCs: 0.93 & 0.93).

• Philips’ Head and Neck RT MRI Enhancements: Philips launched a pair of enhancements to its head and neck MRI radiotherapy capabilities, announcing the expanded FDA clearance of its MR for Calculating Attenuation solution (MRCAT – also cleared for brain, pelvis, prostate) and its MR Head Neck Coil’s new compatibility with MacroMedics’ DSPS (Double Shell Positioning System).

• Brain MRI Breakthrough: A team of South Korea-based scientists developed a new brain MRI technique called direct imaging of neuronal activity (DIANA), that more directly targets neuronal activity. Although early stage, the researchers believe DIANA might overcome the speed challenges of fMRI and the resolution limitations of EEG and MEG, potentially improving MRI-based research into neurological diseases and mental health disorders.

• Pediatric Thyroid Nodule Alternatives: A Duke-led study highlighted TI-RADS and ultrasound AI’s advantages for classifying pediatric thyroid nodules, versus using radiologists’ overall impressions (the currents standard). Among 139 pediatric patients with thyroid nodules, both TI-RADS and a DL algorithm (trained w/ adult data) had higher average sensitivity than three radiologists’ overall impressions (85.1%, 87.5%, 58.3%), but had lower specificity (50.6%, 36.1%, 79.9%). TI-RADS also had a higher interobserver agreement than the radiologists’ impressions (0.597-0.643 vs. 0.227-0.472).

Bedside MRI’s Patient Acuity Impact

With rising patient acuity rates creating “unsustainable financial challenges,” health systems are looking for innovative ways to increase critical care throughput. A growing number of health systems are achieving this goal with the Hyperfine Swoop point-of-care MRI, which can eliminate risks associated with intrahospital transport and keeps more critical care team members in the ICU.

Annalise.ai Gets ‘Comprehensive’ with Enterprise CTB

Annalise.ai doubled-down on its comprehensive AI strategy with the launch of its Annalise Enterprise CTB solution, which identifies a whopping 130 different non-contrast brain CT findings. Annalise Enterprise CTB analyzes brain CTs as they are acquired, prioritizes urgent cases, and provides radiologists with details on each finding (types, locations, likelihood). 

The Resource Wire

• If you’re in the business of using or providing AI, there’s a good chance you spend a lot of time managing AI evaluations. But are your evaluations as efficient or effective as they could be? Check out this Imaging Wire Show with Riverain Technologies CEO, Steve Worrell, detailing the best practices for mitigating AI adoption risks, today and into the future.

• Ready for the patient, clinical, and business benefits of in-office MRI exams? See why Siemens Healthineers’ MAGNETOM Free.Max’s 80cm bore, compact footprint, and cryogen-free design allows orthopedic practices to adopt a complete, in-office MRI solution.

• See how Dubai-based healthcare leader Aster DM Healthcare leveraged the CARPL platform to connect its doctors, data scientists, and imaging workflows, and support its AI projects and development infrastructure.

• Check out this Imaging Wire Show with United Imaging’s Jeffrey Bundy and Mike Coulter, who detail their unique approach to medical imaging innovations. If you’re trying to figure out a simpler and more scalable way to run your imaging organization, this interview is a great way to start.

• With ongoing radiologist shortages and higher rates of burnout, there’s a great need for fast, effective, efficient medical imaging technologies – and those factors are driving 2022’s major medical imaging trends detailed in this Arterys report.

• Easy access to patient records, reduced inefficiencies, improved collaboration and compliance, and enhanced security. These are just a few of the benefits of Novarad’s enterprise imaging solution detailed right here.

• Working out your AI business case? Check out this helpful Blackford Analysis post outlining the three steps to help you justify AI adoption. 

• With radiation dose management now largely considered best practice, this Bayer white paper details the top five benefits of adopting contrast dose management.

• Think your patients are ready for you to ditch the disk? Join ACR past president, Dr. Geraldine McGinty, and Intelerad president, Morris Panner, for this Imaging Wire Show discussion exploring the state of image sharing, its impact on patient care, and how radiology can finally ditch the disk.

• Learn about how Us2.ai is bringing simplicity and clarity to the world of cardiac ultrasound, on the latest episode of The Bleeding Edge of Digital Health featuring Us2.ai’s founders, James Hare and Dr. Carolyn Lam. 

• It’s no secret that radiologists are increasingly burned out, but there are technology-based solutions to this problem. Check out this GE Healthcare report detailing how a workload optimization engine can boost radiologists’ productivity and reduce burnout.

• Check out this Change Healthcare video explaining the difference between single-tenant and multitenant cloud architecture, and how multitenant solutions can improve your efficiency and flexibility.