McNabb N et al, in a new paper in JACR on VC investment in radiology AI.

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Artificial Intelligence

What’s Fueling AI’s Growth

It’s no secret that the rapid growth of AI in radiology is being fueled by venture capital firms eager to see a payoff for early investments in startup AI developers. But are there signs that VCs’ appetite for radiology AI is starting to wane?

Maybe. And maybe not. While one new analysis shows that AI investments slowed in 2023 compared to the year before, another predicts that over the long term, VC investing will spur a boom in AI development that is likely to transform radiology. 

First up is an update by Signify Research to its ongoing analysis of VC funding. The new numbers show that through Q3 2023, the number of medical imaging AI deals has fallen compared to Q3 2022 (24 vs. 40). 

• Total funding has also fallen for the second straight year, to $501M year-to-date in 2023. That compares to $771M through the third quarter of 2022, and $1.1B through the corresponding quarter of 2021. 

On the other hand, the average deal size has grown to an all-time high of $20.9M, compared to 2022 ($15.4M) and 2021 ($18M). 

• And one company – Rapid AI – joined the exclusive club of just 14 AI vendors that have raised over $100M with a $75M Series C round in July 2023. 

In a look forward at AI’s future, a new analysis in JACR by researchers from the ACR Data Science Institute (DSI) directly ties VC funding to healthcare AI software development, predicting that every $1B in funding translates into 11 new product approvals, with a six-year lag between funding and approval. 

• And the authors forecast long-term growth: In 2022 there were 69 FDA-approved products, but by 2035, funding is expected to reach $31B for the year, resulting in the release of a staggering 350 new AI products that year.

Further, the ACR DSI authors see a virtuous cycle developing, as increasing AI adoption spurs more investment that creates more products available to help radiologists with their workloads. 

The Takeaway

The numbers from Signify and ACR DSI don’t match up exactly, but together they paint a picture of a market segment that continues to enjoy massive VC investment. While the precise numbers may fluctuate year to year, investor interest in medical imaging AI will fuel innovation that promises to transform how radiology is practiced in years to come.

A Wide Selection of Breast Imaging AI

Breast imaging AI can help providers reduce their workload and improve patient care. Blackford Analysis offers a wide selection of breast imaging AI apps on its Blackford Platform – find out how they could benefit your organization.

Rethinking Image Exchange: An Untapped Opportunity to Deliver on the Quadruple Aim

Join industry leaders for a Lunch & Learn at RSNA. Learn how they’ve used a human-centric approach to image exchange to improve population health, patient experiences, and operational efficiencies. RSVP today!

The Wire

• AI Risk Score Predicts Breast Cancer: Score another victory for ScreenPoint’s Transpara AI software for predicting breast cancer risk. In a paper in Radiology, Norwegian and Swedish researchers found that Transpara assigned its highest risk score to 38% of screen-detected and interval cancers in a group of 1.6k women. The findings indicate that Transpara can help radiologists focus on the highest-risk screening exams, and are in line with results from the MASAI study earlier this year in which Transpara cut radiologists’ workload by 44%.

• Partnership on Mammo Reporting: Better mammography reporting is the focus of a new partnership between Intelerad Medical Systems and Densitas. Under the deal, Densitas’ intelliMammo AI platform will be available to Intelerad’s installed base of IntelePACS diagnostic imaging and PenRad breast imaging reporting systems. intelliMammo uses AI engines to generate assessments on breast density, mammography positioning quality, and risk assessment. Densitas is Intelerad’s most recent partnership, following the company’s recent deal with voice recognition services developer Augnito Voice Services. 

• AI Helps Rads Diagnose COVID: A homegrown AI algorithm developed by Japanese researchers helped radiologists reading chest X-rays differentiate between COVID-19 cases and patients who were normal or had non-COVID pneumonia. In Scientific Reports, researchers said that radiologists using the algorithm in a dataset of 180 patients had higher AUC for diagnosing COVID than without it (0.76 vs. 0.72). The AI also had higher accuracy on its own than the radiologists (0.73 vs. 0.70), indicating the algorithm could be used to autonomously screen large batches of chest X-rays for COVID.

• Leveraging AI to Fight TB: A partnership between Siemens Healthineers and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria aims to leverage AI of chest X-rays to fight tuberculosis worldwide. Siemens and the Global Fund will focus on Indonesia initially, where Siemens will work with Qure.ai to provide free software licenses and train healthcare workers to incorporate AI into their workflow of reading chest X-rays. AI will also enable off-site radiologists to read exams, bringing screening to remote areas.

• Aidoc Adds Gleamer AI to Platform: AI platform firm Aidoc has expanded its partnership with Gleamer to add that company’s ChestView AI for X-ray to its platform. ChestView analyzes images for signs of pneumothorax, pleural effusion, lung nodules, and other lung pathologies, giving Aidoc customers access to a broader array of chest AI solutions for both X-ray and CT. Aidoc and Gleamer have been working together since 2021, and the companies note that the expansion comes amid the UK’s NHS AI Diagnostic Fund to spur AI adoption. 

• Rural Kids Less Likely to Get US: Rural children experiencing acute appendicitis are more than 8X less likely to receive ultrasound as part of their evaluation. In the Journal of Surgical Research, researchers analyzed 50k children, finding that the adjusted odds ratio for presenting at a hospital that did not have ultrasound was higher for rural locations (aOR=8.4); another factor was being in the lowest quartile of household income (aOR=2.5). Instead of ultrasound, these children will probably get CT, which is more expensive and delivers radiation. 

• HALO Dx Joins Bayer MRI Contrast Program: HALO Diagnostics has joined Bayer’s clinical development program for gadoquatrane, a new high-relaxivity gadolinium-based contrast agent for MRI. Bayer started the QUANTI phase III program to study the safety and effectiveness of gadoquatrane, and HALO’s innovation center in Indian Wells, California is a QUANTI partner site that recently enrolled the first pediatric participant in the program. HALO acquired 10 imaging centers in 2019 with the goal of setting up a network of radiogenomics centers.

• HAP Scores NH Contract: Revenue cycle management firm Healthcare Administrative Partners (HAP) has landed a contract to provide its services to Radiology Associates of Keene in Keene, New Hampshire. HAP will provide core revenue cycle services on Keene’s behalf, including billing, coding, carrier credentialing, business intelligence, and MIPS measure assurance services. HAP notes that its Operations Center of Excellence is in Portsmouth, about two hours away. 

• AAA Screening Needs Outreach: Screening doesn’t work very well if you don’t get it. In a research letter in JAMA Surgery, researchers found little change in the ratio of people diagnosed with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) after CMS in 2014 changed payment policies to encourage ultrasound screening in high-risk Medicare beneficiaries. In a study of 44k people, they found a similar hazard ratio for AAA diagnosis (HR=1.01, P=0.74) before and after the change; low screening rates indicated many AAAs were going undetected. Researchers recommended stronger patient outreach to boost rates.

• New Cardiac Angio System Cleared: GE HealthCare has received FDA clearance for Allia IGS Pulse, a new angiography system for interventional cardiology. The system sports a new imaging chain with what GE calls a monopolar X-ray tube that is quieter and has a smaller footprint to reach steep angulation for better views of coronary anatomy. Allia IGS Pulse also includes GE’s MyIQ technology that enables clinicians to select their favorite image style with one click. GE is featuring the system at TCT 2023. 

• Blackford Adds Enlitic to Platform: Blackford Analysis and Enlitic have partnered to add Enlitic’s data standardization solutions to Blackford Platform. Enlitic’s Endex data standardization technology will enable Blackford users to ensure their medical imaging data is standardized and consistent, which will streamline AI orchestration and promote more efficient collaboration, research, and knowledge-sharing. Enlitic joins Ligence Medical AI Solutions among recent additions to Blackford Platform, as well as Brainreader, AI4MedImaging, and Lunit. 

• Does AI Make You Lazy? Do humans work less hard when they have AI around to help? In a new study in Frontiers, researchers tasked 42 people with inspecting circuit boards, telling them half the boards had been inspected by a robot named Panda. They found that participants working with Panda caught fewer defects later in the assignment, after Panda had flagged errors – a sign the inspectors were less engaged. It’s not a medical study, but it does echo recent research on AI’s impact on radiologists’ work.

A New Duality in Medical Imaging

Patients’ zip codes shouldn’t determine the healthcare they receive. Siemens Healthineers aims to make advanced diagnostic imaging accessible for all patients. Register today for a launch event on November 16 at 12:00 pm ET to meet the company’s new Somatom CT family member.

Keeping Patients at the Center of Breast Imaging

Join Merge on October 19 for a conversation on how to provide better patient outcomes and user experiences in mammography. Hear from thought leaders on the development and deployment of breast imaging solutions driven by patient needs.

Why Data Standardization for Medical Imaging?

Data standardization has emerged as a key issue for both clinical and research aspects of medical imaging. Learn about its pivotal role in healthcare in this Enlitic webinar on October 25 featuring radiologist Cheryl Petersilge, MD, founder and CEO of Vidagos. 

The Resource Wire

• See how cloud-native imaging avoids traditional software’s resource utilization constraints and eliminates unexpected disruptions in this Change Healthcare animation.

• Get to know Clearpath and its novel approach to empowering patients by giving them digital access to their images and medical records in this video interview from SIIM 2023. 

• What are the factors that contribute to errors and misreads in radiology – and how can they be prevented? Find out how to improve your practice’s quality and accuracy in this white paper from Medality. 

• Why should your health system/imaging organization be considering cloud-based PACS? Find out from real-world, live customers in this video why Visage Imaging’s Visage 7 CloudPACS offers major benefits over the limitations of legacy PACS.

• New technology from Us2ai called Us2.connect allows you to add echo AI automation to any echo device. Any echo machine can now have 100% automated reporting with disease detection and editable measurements – all generated in realtime as you scan.

• Learn about the power of the platform to deliver multiple AI solutions in this October 26 webinar sponsored by Nuance. Discover how to optimize your existing data with AI to get more out of routine imaging.

• Faced with the task of monitoring the thousands of exams its algorithms analyze each day, Qure.ai leveraged CARPL.ai’s validation workflow to create a real-time performance dashboard. See how they did it here.

• What’s happening at the intersection of AI and precision medicine? In this Imaging Wire Show, we talked to Chiranjiv Singh, general manager at Tempus Radiology, about their vision for building a 360° view of the patient.

• AI-supported digital applications are expected to transform radiology, but providers need motivation and incentives to adopt them. In this article, authors including executives from Bayer propose a framework to guide payers and AI developers in adoption of radiology AI. 

• Learn more about contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM) in this GE HealthCare Clinical Conversations webinar on October 25 at 1 pm ET featuring Gaelyn Scuderi, MD. She will discuss impactful cases and the value she sees in CEM while addressing implementation questions.

• The FDA has ruled that healthcare providers must inform patients of their breast density status. Learn how Intelerad’s solutions can help mammography facilities comply with this new rule well ahead of next year’s deadline. 

• How can Subtle Medical’s advanced solutions like SubtleMR and SubtlePET – and upcoming SubtleSYNTH application – improve image quality, workflow efficiency, and patient care? Find out in this RSNA 2023 Lunch & Learn session at 12 pm Tuesday November 28. 

• United Imaging is developing modern medical imaging technology for better patient outcomes. CEO Jeffrey Bundy, PhD, explains the company’s unique philosophy in this interview with Healthcare Tech Outlook. 

• Early detection is key to improving treatment pathways and patient outcomes in lung cancer. Learn more facts about lung cancer screening on this resource page from Riverain Technologies.