|
AI Enables Single-Click Cardiac MRI | AI Rules Axed
January 23, 2025
|
|
|
|
|
Together with
|
|
|
|
“[F]ully automated planning software could represent a pivotal shift in the field by
completely automating the selection and monitoring of acquisition parameters, thereby reducing the likelihood of human error.”
|
|
Glessgen C et al, in a new study on single-click cardiac MR planning software.
|
|
|
|
Cardiac MRI is one of the most powerful imaging tools for assessing heart function, but it’s difficult and time-consuming to perform. Could automated AI planning offer a solution? A new research paper shows how AI-based software can speed up cardiac MRI workflow.
Cardiac MRI has a variety of useful clinical applications, generating high-resolution images for tissue characterization and functional assessment without the ionizing radiation of angiography or CT.
- But cardiac MR also requires highly trained MR technologists to perform complex tasks like finding reference cardiac planes, adjusting parameters for every sequence, and interacting with patients – all challenges in today’s era of workforce shortages.
Cardiac MRI’s complexity also increases the number of clicks required by technologists to plan exams.
- This can introduce scan errors and produces inter-operator variability between exams.
Fortunately, vendors are developing AI-based software that automates cardiac MR planning – in this case, Siemens Healthineers’ myExam Cardiac Assist and AI Cardiac Scan Companion.
- The solution enables single-click cardiac MR planning with a pre-defined protocol that includes auto-positioning to identify the center of the heart and shift the scanner table to isocenter, as well as positioning localizers to perform auto-align without manual intervention.
How well does it work in the real world? Researchers tested the AI software against conventional manual cardiac MR exam planning in 82 patients from August 2023 to February 2024, finding that automated protocols had …
- A lower mean rate of procedure errors (0.45 vs. 1.13).
- A higher rate of error-free exams (71% vs. 45%).
- Shorter duration of free-breathing studies (30 vs. 37 minutes).
- But similar duration of breath-hold exams (42 vs. 44 minutes, p=0.42).
- While reducing the error gap between more and less experienced technologists.
In their discussion of the study’s significance, the researchers note that most of the recent literature on AI in medical imaging has focused on its use for image reconstruction, analysis, and reporting.
- Meanwhile, there’s been relatively little attention paid to one of radiology’s biggest pain points – exam preparation and planning.
The Takeaway
The new study’s results are exciting in that they offer not only a method for performing cardiac MR more easily (potentially expanding patient access), but also address the persistent shortage of technologists. What’s not to like?
|
|
|
Bridge Gaps in Care
Learn strategies to close care gaps, enhance patient satisfaction, and drive cost savings from PocketHealth CEO Rishi Nayyar’s Innovation Theater session at RSNA. Watch here.
|
|
Medical Imaging Data for Improved Research
The need for high-quality medical imaging data is crucial to drive advancements in diagnostics and treatment. Schedule a demo today to learn how Enlitic’s ENDEX for data standardization and ENCOG for data anonymization enable researchers to access superior data while optimizing resources.
|
|
Tools for Lung Cancer Screening in Europe
As lung cancer screening programs gear up to launch across various European countries, the integration of AI nodule detection tools promises to enhance the accuracy of low-dose CT scans. Watch this video from Riverain Technologies to learn more.
|
|
- Trump Axes AI Safety Rules: In what could be a harbinger of wholesale changes in the U.S. government’s approach to regulating AI, the Trump Administration this week rescinded the Biden Administration’s executive order on AI safety adopted in October 2023. The Biden order was designed to reduce the risks of AI development, and included provisions on AI safety in healthcare. The question now is whether the administration will halt other healthcare AI initiatives, such as the FDA’s ongoing effort to regulate generative AI.
- ASRT Tackles RT Workforce Shortage: The ongoing radiologic technologist shortage is drawing attention from multiple sectors. The ASRT is leading several workgroups that are developing plans to address the RT shortage as a followup to a 2024 report issued by the society and other groups that offered a half-dozen solutions to the workforce crisis. The goal now is to develop a project plan to be scheduled in three phases, with the first phase completed by June 1, 2025.
- Siemens Partners with ASRT on Training: In other RT workforce news, the ASRT is partnering with Siemens Healthineers to expand technologist/radiographer training, especially in developing countries. The collaboration will make ASRT’s curriculum and educational content available for training, both in-person and virtually, in a vendor-neutral environment. Siemens will assist ASRT in tailoring content to local needs, with the initial focus on developing a curriculum to train 50 radiographers from Ukraine.
- Deep Learning Segments Lung Tumors: In another use case for AI-aided procedure planning, researchers used a deep learning algorithm to detect and segment lung tumors on CT. In a paper in Radiology, authors developed a home-grown 3D U-Net algorithm for tumor detection and segmentation and tested it on 150 CT scans, recording 92% sensitivity and 82% specificity. The model also had shorter mean segmentation time compared to physicians (77 vs. 166-188 seconds), suggesting it could be a suitable alternative to manual segmentation for radiation therapy planning.
- Intelerad Adds CARPL to AI Ecosystem: Intelerad added CARPL.ai to its AI partner ecosystem, giving users of its InteleGence integration platform access to CARPL’s marketplace of over 140 AI applications. The partnership will give InteleGence users easier access to AI tools, and will also give them access to CARPL’s recently cleared universal image viewer and widget directly within Intelerad’s InteleViewer.
- SimonMed Launches Breast AI Service: Add SimonMed to the list of imaging services providers offering patient-paid AI image review. SimonMed’s new Personalized Breast Cancer Detection service offers patients AI review of their 3D mammograms with MagView’s Luminary Risk solution for $40, a price point similar to RadNet’s successful Enhanced Breast Cancer Detection offering. Companies like SimonMed and RadNet have adopted patient-paid models as a way to generate revenue from AI services in areas where reimbursement is inconsistent.
- Siemens Installs First B.brilliant DBT: Siemens Healthineers completed the first U.S. installation of its new Mammomat B.brilliant DBT mammography system, at GRACE Breast Imaging & Medical Spa of Iowa. Siemens received FDA clearance for DBT on B.brilliant last year, giving users access to 3D mammography functionality with a 50-degree wide-angle image acquisition, as well as the company’s PlatinumTomo 3D technology that enables tomo image acquisition in under five seconds.
- Life Molecular Tracer Put on Fast Track: Life Molecular Imaging received FDA fast-track designation for new applications of its fluorine-18 florbetaben PET tracer for detecting amyloid deposits in the heart. The company already markets the tracer as Neuraceq for brain amyloid detection, and the new applications cover diagnosis of cardiac amyloid light-chain and amyloid transthyretin-related amyloidosis. The radiopharmaceutical is in phase III clinical trials for cardiac use – fast track designation could rapidly speed up commercialization. Life Molecular agreed to be acquired by Lantheus earlier this month.
- PET Links Brain Microbleeds to Amyloid: Researchers used PET along with cerebrospinal fluid tests to find that brain amyloid levels are linked to cerebral microbleeds on MRI. In 4.1k individuals 50-90 years old, 37% had amyloid pathology, and those with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease were more likely to have microbleeds, as were the oldest patients or those with APOE ε4 alleles (52% prevalence for all three). The findings could help inform safety evaluations for antiamyloid clinical trials to better track patients with amyloid-related imaging abnormalities.
- FTC Settles PE Roll-Up Case: In a move that could have implications for radiology practice consolidation, the FTC settled litigation against private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe that charged the company with trying to roll up anesthesiology practices in Texas to create a monopoly and drive up prices. The FTC ordered Welsh Carson to freeze its investment in its roll-up vehicle, U.S. Anesthesia Partners, and submit to increased oversight in the future. Welsh Carson also owns U.S. Radiology Specialists, with 175 imaging centers.
- Autonomous AI Firm Enters Wind-Up Process: U.K. AI developer Behold.ai entered wind-up proceedings under the provisions of the U.K’s Insolvency Act after a petition was filed in October 2024 by the company’s creditors. Behold developed the red dot platform, which received CE Mark certification in 2020 for diagnosing chest X-rays as “normal” and ruling them out from requiring radiologist review. The company claimed red dot was the first chest X-ray AI algorithm to be able to operate autonomously.
|
|
All Your Data in One Place
Mach7’s Vendor Neutral Archive (VNA) is a powerful data management and workflow orchestration technology built for the future. Learn how it can help you drive better patient care by centralizing all your data in one place.
|
|
The Growth of AI in Pulmonology
Learn more about the capabilities of AI for chest imaging in this on-demand webinar from Blackford. You’ll hear pulmonology professionals discuss several promising areas, from acute imaging through chest X-ray analysis to lung cancer screening.
|
|
Visage’s Top 5 Topics from RSNA 2024
What were the hot topics from RSNA 2024? From a big increase in booth traffic to immersive excitement over the Visage Ease VP spatial computing app, RSNA attendees got a close look at everything Visage Imaging has to offer in cloud-based PACS.
|
|
- Get the 2024 Radiology Practice Development Report: Medality surveyed more than 3,300 radiologists and discovered the most critical training gaps and growth opportunities in radiology for its 2024 Radiology Practice Development Report. Download your complimentary report today.
- Focus on Mammography Workflow: Mammography workflow is key to providing high-quality breast imaging services. In this Imaging Wire Show, we talked with Christie Devine of Siemens Healthineers about how recent advances in mammography workflow are leading to more effective mammography technologists — and happier patients.
- Tuesdays with Merge Imaging: Merge Imaging’s complimentary webinar series has been refreshed for 2025, with new sessions including product roadmaps for Merge PACS and Merge Imaging Suite, and an early overview of Merge Hemo. Sign up today for the sessions that meet your needs.
- Unprecedented Insights Made Possible with AI: With the largest normative dataset of whole-body imaging in the world, Prenuvo’s AI researchers partner with the best academic minds to understand – like never before – what “normal” aging means. Learn about their work today.
- Unlock Next-Generation AI with Foundation Models: Learn about Microsoft’s new family of cutting-edge multimodal medical imaging foundation models designed for healthcare organizations to test, fine-tune, and build tailored AI solutions specific to their needs, while minimizing extensive compute and data requirements.
- Top-Tier Care at Rural Hospitals: Holzer Health System in Jackson, OH, treats local patients like family. In this video, learn how United Imaging equipped Holzer Health with its uMR 570 MRI scanner, helping them to offer top-tier care.
- Which Imaging Vendors Are Ready for the Cloud? Which medical imaging vendors are perceived as ready for the cloud? In a new survey from KLAS Research, AGFA HealthCare’s approach to the cloud won high marks from customers. Learn more about the report today.
- Give Patients a Clear Path to Accessing Medical Data: Clearpath is a simple integration that empowers digital delivery of medical records and images. Request a demo today to find out how you can ditch the disc and give your patients and third parties instant access to digital data.
- Secure and Scalable Radiology AI Adoption: CARPL’s Unboxing AI webinar series takes a deep dive into radiology AI adoption with a four-part series hosted by CEO Vidur Mahajan, MD. Learn how a platform approach can help you realize the full potential of an integrated AI ecosystem.
- How AI and Informatics Are Changing Radiology: How are AI-powered health informatics solutions reshaping radiology? Watch this on-demand webinar from DeepHealth to see how informatics is improving the speed and accuracy of cancer detection while giving clinicians advanced operational insights.
- Heart Failure Screening at Home and in Primary Care: Heart failure is the number one cause of hospitalization in people over 65. The SYMPHONY study is investigating a screening strategy of point-of-care AI echo and NT-proBNP in primary practice and general community settings. Learn more on this page from Us2.ai.
- Streamline Your Radiology Workflow: Intelerad’s InteleOne provides a streamlined reading workflow for radiologists regardless of where the images come from. Book a demo today to learn how it can improve quality of life and productivity.
- AI for Hip Morphology Assessment: A new study validates the accuracy of Gleamer’s BoneMetrics AI solution for hip and pelvic assessment. BoneMetrics turned in high levels of accuracy and reproducibility – find out how it can simplify your daily and routine measurements.
- Feel the Freedom of Helium-Free MRI: Lift limitations and experience MRI excellence with Philips BlueSeal, the industry’s lightest, vent pipe-free, high-performance, helium-free 1.5T scanner. Save on helium and energy costs, achieve precise AI-enhanced diagnoses, enjoy faster scans, and optimized workflows. Learn more today.
- The Future of AI in Breast Screening: In this downloadable eBook from Calantic Digital Solutions by Bayer, learn about the potential of AI to address some of the most burdensome breast cancer screening and diagnostic challenges.
- MRI Access and the Cost of Inpatient Stays: Longer inpatient stays due to delayed MRI access are a long-standing and costly issue for hospital systems. Find out how STAGE from SpinTech MRI can reduce your MRI backlog and inpatient stays by shortening brain scan times by 30%.
- Future-Proof Your Medical Imaging: Switch to Optum’s fully managed, cloud-native enterprise imaging platform. Secure, scalable, seamless. Learn more today on how to future-proof your medical imaging!
|
|
|
|
|
