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CT Cancer Risk, AI Consolidation, and Rad Salaries
April 17, 2025
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Together with
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“Sadly, patients are going to be needlessly scared by this paper, which is really just a math exercise.”
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Cynthia McCollough, PhD, commenting on a new paper on CT radiation dose and cancer.
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High-risk breast clinics are emerging as a new model for breast care that benefits both patients and care providers. Learn about their advantages and how to get started in this contribution from Densitas.
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The radiology world was turned on its head this week with the publication of a new paper in JAMA Internal Medicine on CT radiation risk. Researchers estimated that all the CT scans performed in the U.S. in a single year would cause more than 100k cancers over the lives of the patients who got them.
Radiation risk has always been the Achilles heel of CT, radiology’s workhorse modality for advanced imaging.
- But CT is plagued by dose variation and a lack of reporting on exactly how much dose patients are getting – especially when it exceeds guidelines.
In the new study, researchers led by radiation safety expert Rebecca Smith-Bindman, MD, of UCSF used existing estimates of low-level radiation risk to calculate how many cancers would result from the 93M CT scans performed in the U.S. in 2023, finding …
- CT radiation dose would cause 103k future cancers over the lifetimes of the patients.
- At the current rate, “CT-associated cancer” would account for 5% of all cancers – about the same number caused by alcohol.
- The study’s projection of CT-linked cancers is 3X-4X higher than previous estimates, mostly due to the growth in CT utilization.
The paper generated pushback from sources including the ACR and AAPM, who questioned whether it really reveals any new information about the risks of CT radiation.
- They reiterated the medical value of CT scans, noting that the research was based on statistical models and that there are no published studies directly linking CT scans to cancer.
Another thing the paper doesn’t touch on are the dramatic reductions in CT radiation dose that have occurred in recent years.
- CT protocol optimization and AI-based data reconstruction – as well as technologies like photon-counting CT – have enabled imaging professionals to reduce doses to levels previously thought impossible, such as under 1 mSv for a routine chest exam.
To help providers manage dose, CMS this year launched new dose reporting quality measures, CMS1074v2, designed to reward radiology practices for tracking and reporting radiation dose.
- Smith-Bindman is a co-founder of Alara Imaging, which provides software to help radiology providers comply with the new CMS measures. ACR also offers a variety of dose optimization and monitoring tools.
The Takeaway
So what to make of the new study? On the one hand, the sensational headlines it generated could scare many patients away from getting medically necessary CT scans. On the other, any attention toward radiation dose reduction and appropriate imaging is a good thing, and if it spurs new efforts toward more judicious and consistent use of CT at lower radiation levels, so much the better.
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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%.
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Transform Your Practice into a Multispecialty Powerhouse
Medality is the practice development platform that helps radiologists upskill in high-growth, advanced imaging areas. Request a demo today and discover how to transform your practice into a multispecialty powerhouse.
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- DeepHealth to Buy iCAD in AI Consolidation: In a major consolidation of the radiology AI space, RadNet subsidiary DeepHealth is buying iCAD, a provider of CAD and AI software for women’s health, in an all-stock deal valued at $103M. iCAD is one of the original developers of mammography CAD software, and the purchase will dramatically boost DeepHealth’s position in the mammography AI segment while complementing its acquisition of Kheiron Medical in October 2024. DeepHealth will gain access to iCAD’s flagship ProFound software suite and installed base of 1.5k providers in 50 countries.
- High-Risk Breast Clinics: High-risk breast cancer clinics are no longer just a good idea – they’re becoming a strategic imperative. In this article from Densitas, learn how high-risk breast clinics are a smart move for patients, payors, and providers, creating a care pathway that includes additional testing leading to better clinical outcomes. A team-based approach keeps physician time focused and costs under control, ensuring the clinic operates efficiently and sustainably.
- Earlier Breast Cancer Detection: Getting a previous mammogram was associated with earlier breast cancer detection in a new study in JAMA Network Open – and more screenings meant even lower risk. In a study of 13k women over 70, those with at least one screening mammogram had a 54% lower risk of late-stage breast cancer, and 36% lower risk of dying of breast cancer. Having 3-4 prior screenings reduced breast cancer mortality risk by 37% compared to just one screening.
- ScreenPoint Highlights at SBI: ScreenPoint Medical will highlight a new version of its Transpara breast AI software at the upcoming SBI 2025 meeting, April 24-27. Transpara 2.1 features an improved breast cancer detection algorithm, as well as compatibility with options for breast density analysis and image comparison with prior exams. Current images can be compared against up to three prior exams over six years. The new version has both FDA clearance and the CE Mark.
- Is DBT Screening Cost-Effective? Is DBT’s increased breast cancer detection worth its extra cost for screening? It depends on what you’re willing to pay. In a modeling study using a hypothetical cohort of 100k women in Sweden, assuming an exam cost of €61 and a willingness to pay of €10,000 per QALY, DBT would have to reduce breast cancer mortality by 10.1% – a higher reduction than in most recent studies. But at €50,000/QALY the reduction would only have to be 3.6% to be cost-effective.
- Intelerad Names Grunden As CCO: Intelerad named IT veteran Eric Grunden as its chief customer officer. Grunden will lead initiatives to enhance client experiences, improve customer support systems, and strengthen client relationships. He comes to Intelerad after serving as CCO at enterprise marketing operations software developer Uptempo, and he also held leadership positions at ResMed, Civitas Learning, and Greenway Health.
- Radiation Dose in Long-Axis PET: With renewed attention on radiation dose, researchers in JNM shared their low-dose protocol for long-axis PET – scanners with extra-long gantries that have higher sensitivity and thus lower radiation dose. In a small study with four patients, they reduced FDG tracer activity by 33X (to 0.09 from 3 MBq/kg) and used a CT-less attenuation correction protocol called LSO-TX that was comparable to CT-based attenuation correction. Total exam radiation exposure was cut by 3X (0.15 vs. 0.49 mSv).
- Optellum Partners with Bristol Myers Squibb: Optellum and Bristol Myers Squibb are partnering to catch lung cancer earlier with AI and enable opportunistic screening. Optellum offers the FDA-cleared Virtual Nodule Clinic decision support tool, which includes features for identifying patients who might be at risk of lung cancer from CT reports. Optellum will deploy VNC at multiple U.S. healthcare systems with the support of funding from BMS to evaluate its impact on lung cancer care pathways. BMS markets the Opdivo immunotherapy cancer medication.
- Visage Lands AI Pact with UCSF: Visage Imaging signed an agreement with UCSF to use its Visage AI Accelerator platform to collaborate on new AI algorithms for medical imaging. The platform is designed to spur AI development by offering tools for data collection, curation, de-identification, and analysis that can help research partners like UCSF develop new AI solutions more quickly.
- FDA Clears Echo AI App: French software developer DESKi received FDA 510(k) clearance for HeartFocus, a new AI application for guiding healthcare professionals in performing echocardiography exams. HeartFocus enables staff – including novices – to perform cardiac ultrasound exams with just a few hours of training, and the application was supported by a clinical trial in which 100% of novice-conducted scans with HeartFocus met diagnostic standards.
- Subtle’s Strategic Partnership: Subtle Medical signed an agreement to provide its SubtleELITE image reconstruction suite to national radiology coalition Strategic Radiology. SubtleELITE includes the company’s SubtleHD algorithm for MRI enhancement, SubtleSYNTH protocol for creating synthetic STIR-MRI exams, and SubtleALIGN automated image alignment tool. The 43 members of Strategic Radiology will get exclusive pricing on the suite.
- Radiologist Salaries Grow 4.4%: Radiologist salaries grew 4.4% in 2024 based on the latest Medscape salary survey, with radiologists reporting an average salary of $520k vs. $498k in 2023. Radiologists ranked second on Medcape’s list of 29 medical specialists, with only orthopedic surgeons posting higher average pay. Medscape said the numbers show that specialist income is driven by gross billings to commercial payors and “performing lots of procedures, as opposed to delivering consultations.”
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Visit Philips at ISMRM 2025
Philips will be showcasing its AI-driven connected imaging, optimized workflows, and integrated clinical solutions for MRI at ISMRM 2025. See their conference highlights or drop by at booth #D41.
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Helping Providers Deliver Critical Answers to Patients
Intelerad’s new InteleGence solution helps providers deliver critical answers to patients when they need them most by deploying AI tools to simplify workflows and assist in precision diagnostics. Learn more about how InteleGence works today.
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- Struggling with Rising Operating Costs? 87% of healthcare imaging leaders identify rising operating costs as a major challenge. This white paper from PocketHealth outlines opportunities to generate cost savings, retain patients, and increase referral volumes. Learn more here.
- Presenting Unboxing AI: Check out CARPL’s video series, Unboxing AI, featuring experts discussing AI and its future in radiology. The next episode on April 17 features Vytautas Naujalis of Oxipit – reserve your seat today.
- Patient-Centered Innovation with Photon-Counting CT: Siemens Healthineers is committed to transforming medical imaging with its NAEOTOM Alpha class, now featuring three photon-counting CT systems. Find out how they can enhance your diagnostic results.
- The Benefits of the Cloud for Enterprise Imaging: How are you preparing for the future of cloud-based enterprise imaging? In this downloadable e-book from Optum, learn about the benefits of cloud-based enterprise imaging and how to develop a strategy that works for you.
- Rewriting Cancer: How AI Could Reimagine Cancer Screening: Find out how DeepHealth is empowering breakthroughs in lung cancer detection with AI-driven technology in the #RewritingCancer digital series, which explores innovative solutions for cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
- Opportunistic Detection of CAC and Pulmonary Nodules: Achieve a newfound certainty of search for thoracic CT when using ClearRead CT from Riverain Technologies. It’s a natural addition for opportunistic CAC scoring and nodule detection, or as part of a CT lung cancer screening program.
- The Advantages of Cloud-Based PACS: CloudPACS offers significant advantages to healthcare providers for enterprise imaging, including no on-premise requirements and enhanced reliability. Learn more about the advantages of CloudPACS in this talk from HIMSS 2025 by Visage Imaging’s Steve Deaton.
- AI and Neuroradiology Workflow: How can AI add value to workflows in neuroradiology? Watch this on-demand video to learn from Blackford partners how AI can help, from assisting providers in managing acute stroke patients to the impact of CPT III codes in driving adoption of brain volumetric AI solutions.
- A New Cloud-Based Viewing Solution: Mach7 Technologies has achieved a major milestone with the release of its eUnity Enterprise Diagnostic Viewer with the Amazon Web Services (AWS) HealthImaging Cloud. Learn how this solution creates simplicity for users while enabling faster diagnoses and better patient outcomes.
- Advancing AI-Driven Data Migration: Enlitic has joined forces with GE HealthCare to power the data migration feature in GE’s newly announced Genesis cloud portfolio. Learn how Enlitic’s AI-driven data migration facilitates large-scale transfers of high-quality medical imaging data.
- 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.
- Best in KLAS for 2025: Merge Cardio and Merge Hemo from Merge by Merative have been ranked Best in KLAS for Cardiology and Hemodynamics, marking the 10th and 13th time respectively for these industry-leading solutions. Read this report to see how they compared to the competition.
- 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.
- AI-Empowered CT Workflow: CT systems from United Imaging are designed for high image quality and low dose, and their AI-empowered workflow enables fast and reproducible positioning, helping you image patients with confidence. Learn more on this page.
- Top 3 Productivity Tools for Radiologists: Radiologists today face growing demands for speed, collaboration, and accuracy. Attend this May 8 webinar to learn from clinical and IT leaders from the University of Michigan Health – Sparrow and AGFA HealthCare as they share the top tools helping radiologists work smarter.
- Visit Kailo Medical at SIIM 2025: Learn about the latest synoptic reporting solutions by visiting Kailo Medical at booth #539 at SIIM 2025. Book an appointment today to find out how their technology can make radiology reporting easier while maximizing efficiency.
- AI-Automated Thoracic Measurements: AI-generated measurements from Us2.ai’s AI echo software had good agreement with expert cardiologists for detecting signs of aortic dilation in patients with aortic stenosis in a recent clinical study. Find out how well it worked on this page.
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