Aengus Tran, MD, of Annalise.ai, in an Imaging Wire Show episode on AI. 

AI has the potential to revolutionize radiology, but its use cases and value proposition to radiologists can vary based on whether they are located in developed or developing countries. In this edition of The Imaging Wire Show, we spoke about the global opportunities for AI with Aengus Tran, MD, CEO and co-founder of AI developer Annalise.ai.

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Interventional Radiology

MSK Problems Weigh Down Interventional Radiologists

Musculoskeletal problems are common among interventional radiologists, caused by many hours wearing heavy radiation protection gear. That’s according to a new study in European Journal of Radiology which found that almost half of interventionalists suffered from multiple orthopedic problems, issues that forced a significant portion to either reduce or stop their interventional practice. 

Interventional radiology has been responsible for major improvements in patient care through image-guided procedures that are noninvasive and can eliminate the need for open surgery, reducing patient recovery times to hours rather than days.

• But these advances can come at the cost of higher radiation doses to the personnel who perform and assist with interventional radiology procedures, which has led to issues such as higher breast cancer rates among women who work with image-guided procedures and even DNA damage in cases of long-term exposure.

Radiation protection gear is worn by interventionalists to mitigate that radiation risk, but this gear is heavy and can carry risks of its own, which were investigated by researchers from the University Hospital Marburg in Germany. They conducted a 17-question survey of orthopedic problems among interventional radiologists, receiving 221 responses indicating that …

• Some 48% of responders experienced more than five orthopedic problems during their interventional career
• Problems of the lumbar spine were reported by 82% of respondents, followed by cervical spine (33%), shoulder (29%), and knee (25%)
• Orthopedic problems caused 16% of respondents to reduce their interventional activities, and 2.7% to stop their practice altogether
• Just 16% of respondents said they had never experienced an orthopedic problem in their career

The new findings track with previous research highlighting the toll that radiation protection gear takes on interventional personnel. The researchers said that one positive finding of their study was that all interventional radiologists reported wearing radiation protection, although fewer respondents reported using radiation glasses (49%) or visors (11%) despite radiation’s known risk of cataracts.

The Takeaway

This study indicates that interventional radiologists are caught between a rock (radiation dose) and a hard place (orthopedic problems). Relief could come from companies that are developing radiation protection solutions such as free-hanging radiation protection gear; for interventional personnel, these options can’t come soon enough.

Missed Appointments and No-Show Costs Can Add Up

Every missed appointment can cost providers an average of $200. Find out how providers are reducing no-show rates by up to 30% with Appointment Reminders by PocketHealth.

The Value of MRI Ownership

Are you wondering whether buying a new MRI scanner is the best use of scarce capital equipment funds? Check out Siemens Healthineers’ interactive ROI calculator to see the value of purchasing the MAGNETOM Free.Max.

The Wire

• Radiology Does Well in Match 2024: The 2024 Main Residency Match concluded Friday, and radiology did well as medical students learned the residency programs they’ll train in. Only one diagnostic radiology residency program out of 170 went unfilled for a 99.7% fill rate, while interventional radiology also saw one unfilled program out of 68 for a 98% fill rate. The total number of diagnostic radiology PGY-1 and PGY-2 positions grew to 1,162, up 4.4% over 2020. 

• Radiology Gets Less Competitive? How do the 2024 Match results shake out for medical students trying to get into radiology? An analysis by Francis Deng, MD, shows that in 2024 the radiology match rate for US MD seniors was 87%, which compares to lows of 81% in 2023 and 84% in 2022. For point of comparison, 96% of US MD senior applicants to radiology matched in 2016, when fears about AI prompted many to shun the specialty. Deng’s analysis last year found that radiology saw the strongest growth in applicants in the Match over the past three years. 

• Breast Cancer Risk in Spotlight: National attention was on breast cancer risk assessment last week after movie star Olivia Munn revealed that her doctors discovered breast cancer following a risk assessment score. Munn said after a screening mammogram her physician calculated her lifetime breast cancer risk as 37%; this led to additional testing – including MRI – that detected breast cancer in the 43-year-old actress. Reports are that her physician used the NCI’s online Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool, but the news could also boost developers of breast cancer risk awareness software.  

• Volpara Shows Lunit Integration at NCBC: Integration between Lunit and Volpara is beginning to bear fruit even before Lunit’s acquisition has been finalized. At this week’s NCBC 2024 in Las Vegas, Volpara is showing Lunit’s Insight AI software for early cancer detection alongside its own solutions for analyzing breast density, cancer risk, and mammography quality. New Zealand’s high court signed off on the deal last week, setting the stage for a shareholder vote on April 12. 

• Deepc’s UK Moves: German AI operating system developer deepc is making moves into the UK. The company has joined King’s Health Partners Digital Health Hub as an industry partner. The hub launched last week as a multi-disciplinary resource to support faster development of new digital health technologies, and deepc’s involvement will focus on translation and acceleration to help AI-focused medtech startups scale up quickly. Deepc opened a UK office to support the initiative and to guide its growing operations in the country.

• Another FDA AI Guidance Document: The FDA has posted a new guidance document that details how the agency’s various divisions will be working together to regulate AI in healthcare. The document outlines how CDRH, CBER, CDER, and OCP will align their efforts to advance the responsible use of AI for medical products while also supporting innovation, and is a companion to previously released FDA documents on change control plans for AI. While the number of FDA-cleared AI algorithms has boomed, the agency is still facing industry pressure for faster approvals. 

• Annalise Lands Hospital in Hong Kong: AI developer Annalise.ai has landed a contract to deploy its software at Gleneagles Hospital Hong Kong. The company will install its Annalise Enterprise applications, which can detect up to 130 findings on brain CT scans and 124 findings on chest X-rays, with the goal of reducing report turnaround time and improving diagnostic accuracy. Gleneagles is one of Hong Kong’s top private teaching hospitals; the deal marks another step in Annalise’s global expansion.

• AI Aids Lung Cancer Screening: In a new paper in Radiology: Artificial Intelligence, researchers performed a real-world test of AI-assisted CT lung cancer screening at programs in the US and Japan. Researchers developed a workflow in which AI results were presented through the PACS; in a population of 627 low-dose CT studies, readers assisted by AI had 6-7% higher specificity as measured by AUC (0.72 vs. 0.70 in the US and 0.96 vs. 0.93 in Japan) with no statistically significant change in sensitivity. 

• Blackford Adds Pixyl to Platform: Blackford continues to expand the number of applications available on its Blackford Platform, this time adding software from French developer Pixyl for AI-enhanced brain MRI analysis. Blackford is adding the company’s Pixyl.Neuro solution to Platform to give healthcare providers access to tools for the diagnosis and monitoring of neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases with MRI. Pixyl joins Imbio, Avicenna, Bot Image, See-Mode, and Rayscape among recent additions to Platform. 

• Google Launches GenAI Tool at HIMSS: At HIMSS 2024, Google Cloud launched Vertex AI Search for Healthcare, a genAI tool that allows providers, payors, and life science organizations to make better use of their clinical data. Users can search for information across clinical notes, scanned documents, and other data sources to find natural language answers to their questions (e.g. patient medical history).

• Philips’ Cloud-Based Digital Path Play: Also at HIMSS, Philips expanded its partnership with AWS to combine its expertise in digitization and pathology with AWS’ scalable cloud solutions to help pathology labs store, manage, and analyze growing volumes of digital pathology data. The agreement is the latest example of medical imaging companies moving into the pathology space as that specialty takes the first steps toward converting to digital image management; Philips has over 300 users taking advantage of fully digital workflow with its IntelliSite Pathology software.

New Industry Research on Cloud in Imaging

77% of imaging organizations rely on cloud – but most still haven’t fully integrated cloud or maximized its potential. Check out the new industry research report from Merge by Merative on enterprise cloud adoption and its challenges.

How Imaging Technology Affects the Entire Enterprise

Watch this on-demand webinar from Enlitic featuring Konfidi Healthcare President Brandon Taggart and Enlitic’s Dave Wilson in a conversation about how medical imaging technology affects the entire healthcare enterprise.

Looking to Get Started with AI?

Learn how Milton Keynes University Hospital adopted a successful AI strategy in this on-demand webinar from Blackford. You’ll discover how to evaluate and select the best AI solutions for your facility, tips for getting started with AI, and more. 

The Resource Wire

• What Does Improved MRI Efficiency Mean? There’s a growing need for practical, cost-effective solutions to improve efficiency in MRI and other modalities. Read this article from Karen Holzberger of SpinTech MRI and James Backstrom, MD, to learn how the company’s STAGE software can help. 

• Next Gen Radiology Training: Attend this Medality webinar at 12 pm ET on March 20 to learn how radiology residency programs are leveraging digital resources, featuring academic leaders Erin Gomez, MD, and Amita Kamath, MD. 

• AI-Based X-Ray Fracture Analysis: Gleamer’s BoneView AI fracture analysis tool performed well in detecting distal radius fractures on musculoskeletal radiographs in a study published in BMJ. Learn more in this study summary.

• AI-Powered Home Ultrasound: The recently published CUMIN study shows the technical feasibility of AI-POCUS in the hands of novice nurses and opens new possibilities for redefining how we approach cardiac care. Learn more on this page from Us2.ai. 

• How to Help Radiologists Thrive: With burnout and staffing shortages on the rise, and the increasing volume of imaging, radiology teams are searching for solutions. This interactive guide from Nuance can help you create an environment where radiologists thrive by building a powerful imaging strategy with AI-driven, real-time intelligence.

• Treating Local Patients Like Family: Holzer Health System in the rural community of Jackson, Ohio, treats local patients like family, offering the same level of top-quality care that can be found anywhere. Find out how United Imaging’s Software Upgrades for Life program helps them stay current.

• Improving Patient Outcomes in Lung Cancer: 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. 

• Give Your Patients the Experience They Want: Empower patients to take control of their healthcare journey by giving them mobile access to their records and images with Clearpath, the world’s first digital fulfillment platform for records and films. Book a demo today. 

• A Better Way to Deploy AI: CARPL.ai’s end-to-end modular platform for AI deployment is changing how University Hospitals in Cleveland uses AI to enhance patient care. Hear from UH clinicians and administrators as they share their experiences.

• The Journey to Cloud-Based PACS: Radiology is looking closely at cloud-based PACS as an alternative to on-premises digital image management. We discuss this emerging trend with key opinion leaders who have made the switch with Visage Imaging in The Imaging Wire Show.

• Calantic by Bayer’s ECR Highlights: What were the hot topics in the booth of Calantic by Bayer at ECR 2024? AI was definitely a highlight in this video interview with Calantic executives Lucía Fernández and Juan Gutiérrez, MD.

• AI-Powered Informatics to Drive Healthcare Value: The DeepHealth OS is a cloud-native operating system that orchestrates all data to drive value across the healthcare enterprise. Learn more about how DeepHealth elevates the radiologist beyond radiology and across the entire care pathway 

• An End-to-End AV and AI Solution: Never buy separate AV and AI solutions again. Get in touch with TeraRecon to find out how your health system can benefit from all the Intuition clinical features you need, plus a growing list of exclusive subscription-only content that leverages the power of AI.

• Revolutionizing Healthcare Imaging: Learn about Intelerad’s role in healthcare innovation, the importance of “ditching the disk,” and more in this interview with President Morris Panner on the Skeleton Crew: The Rad Tech Show.