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Top 6 Radiology Trends, Cardiac MRI and Pollution, and RP’s Refi
July 7, 2025
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Together with
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“Death by 1,000 cuts. Large oligopolies will get gov grants. Small hospitals and private practices will crumble. Not a dem/repub thing, just a power grab by the larger power players. Docs will be like every other trade organization except we probably won’t be allowed to unionize”
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A RadHQ comment by beamhardening on the impact of the Big Beautiful Bill’s Medicaid cuts.
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The first half of 2025 has drawn to a close, and once again it was an eventful period for radiology. As we do every year, we’ve compiled a list of the top six stories – one for each month – to help recap what was important in medical imaging.
Consolidation in Imaging Services
Radiology’s imaging services segment continues to consolidate as smaller providers get gobbled up by larger players. One of the biggest consolidation moves happened in April when Radiology Partners agreed to take over radiology contracts held by Envision Healthcare. Private-practice radiology continues its slow decline, as documented by a study in May that found just 50% of U.S. radiologists in private practice.
DeepHealth Drives AI Consolidation
Imaging services isn’t the only radiology market that’s consolidating – the AI sector is also seeing heightened M&A activity as algorithm developers suffer from a decline in venture capital activity and slower clinical adoption. Many of the deals are being driven by RadNet’s DeepHealth subsidiary, which continues to acquire independent AI developers, such as See-Mode Technologies in ultrasound and its proposed deal for iCAD in mammography.
Radiology VC Funding Goes Boom – Then Bust
Radiology venture capital funding appeared to be gaining momentum in the first few weeks of 2025, as January saw six funding rounds, but the good times didn’t last as economic concerns slowed investment. Radiology startups may have to get used to a more competitive funding environment, although there was positive news in the spring with funding rounds from HOPPR, DESKi, RadAI, Yunu, Aeon, Heartflow, Chipiron, Brainomix, and Brainreader.
When Will Getting Paid for AI Get Easier?
Reimbursement is one of the major stumbling blocks holding back wider adoption of clinical AI. Legislation that might grease the reimbursement skids was introduced into the U.S. Congress in April, but sources tell The Imaging Wire that it wasn’t included in the big budget bill that was just passed. In the meantime, AI developers and users will have to deal with a patchwork of AI reimbursement pathways.
Concerns Rise about CT Radiation Dose
Several studies were published in the first half of 2025 raising concerns about radiation dose from CT scans. First, researchers in April released a study that they claimed showed 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. That was followed up with a paper in May linking greater CT use in European countries to a higher percentage of patients with five-year cumulative radiation dose of over 100 mSv.
Can Imaging IT Tools Help Radiologists Manage Rising Volume?
Radiology’s rising scan volume and static workforce have IT developers furiously working on tools to bridge the gap. A March paper listed the half-dozen IT tools radiologists say they want (only one was AI), but another analysis threw cold water on the idea by predicting that AI would actually increase radiologists’ workload, not reduce it. Meanwhile, multiple studies are showing that for applications like breast screening, AI can reduce workload by as much as 41%.
The Takeaway
The midpoint of the year is a great time to take stock of radiology’s progress and the issues that have bubbled to the surface over the past six months. AI dominated radiology for the first half of 2025, and odds are the trend will continue in the back half of the year.
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The Invisible Edge of Data Migration
AI-enabled data migration has several advantages for healthcare organizations, from efficiency that’s 5-10X faster than traditional methods to success rates as high as 99%. Learn more on this page from Enlitic.
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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.
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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.
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- Us2.ai’s CA Clearances: Us2.ai’s AI Echo Copilot just landed both U.S. FDA clearance and a European CE Mark for automated cardiac amyloidosis detection. With the moves, Us2.ai becomes the first echo AI platform to combine both AI pattern recognition and guideline-based measurement reporting into a single solution, while helping echo teams identify more cardiac amyloidosis patients. That’s welcome news among providers and CA patients, noting the importance of early detection for this serious and widely underdiagnosed disease.
- Open-Source AI for Breast MRI: AI for breast MRI was the subject of a study in Radiology: Artificial Intelligence by City University of New York researchers who developed an open-source algorithm and tested it in 10k women. The model turned in an AUC of 0.95 for detecting primary breast cancer and had 83% sensitivity when set at 90% specificity – comparable to radiologists’ performance. Researchers highlighted their dataset’s size, which supports greater diversity and enables training large models from scratch.
- Philips SmartSpeed Precise Clearance: Philips MRI scanners just got a major speed and clarity boost, with the FDA 510(k) clearance of its SmartSpeed Precise integrated dual AI reconstruction software. SmartSpeed Precise combines Compressed SENSE acceleration with dual AI engines for denoising and sharpening, allowing up to 3X faster scanning and 80% sharper images with a single-click workflow. SmartSpeed Precise is cleared across Philips’ entire 1.5T and 3T MRI portfolio, including its installed base.
- Fracture AI Cuts Costs: Using AI to detect fractures in emergency X-rays in the U.K.’s NHS system would reduce missed fractures, lower unnecessary referrals, and generate cost savings. In a modeling study in Value in Health, researchers analyzed the impact of implementing Gleamer’s BoneView AI algorithm across the country for 659k radiographs for suspected wrist, ankle, or hip fractures. Compared to current practice, AI integration eliminated 21.7k unnecessary referrals, reducing costs by 5.4% ($86.5M vs. $91.5M) and saving the NHS $5M annually.
- RP Refinances: The U.S.’ biggest radiology practice might also have the segment’s craftiest finance department. Radiology Partners extended its debt runway, refinancing its $2.3B first-lien debt through 2032, that otherwise would have been repaid in 2025 and 2029. The refi follows a streak of financial maneuvers including a $750M growth equity raise, moves to extend its senior debt, and notable improvements to its free cash flow, resulting in credit rating upgrades from S&P and Moody’s.
- Cardiac MRI Shows Air Pollution Effects: Exposure to air pollution causes heart damage visible on cardiac MRI. In a paper in Radiology, University of Toronto researchers scanned 694 people with native T1 mapping and late gadolinium enhancement cardiac MRI protocols to quantify myocardial fibrosis caused by inhalable PM2.5 particulate matter. Scans were correlated to each individual’s PM2.5 exposure based on Canadian government data. In people with dilated cardiomyopathy, greater long-term exposure led to higher MRI scores of diffuse myocardial fibrosis.
- Lunit & MSFT’s AI Alliance: Lunit announced a cancer AI collaboration with Microsoft, representing a step towards Lunit’s goal to evolve towards offering more comprehensive and integrated AI solutions. The collaboration will primarily focus on 1) co-developing an AI model customization service, allowing fine-tuning AI models using site-specific data from each customer, and 2) leveraging Microsoft’s agentic AI frameworks to support intelligent task automation and end-to-end workflow automation.
- X-Ray AI Detects Fatty Liver Disease: Advanced imaging is usually required to diagnose hepatic steatosis (fatty liver disease), but Japanese researchers developed an AI algorithm to do it by analyzing chest radiographs. In a study in Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging, they found that in an external test set of 1.1k patients the algorithm had AUC of 0.82, with sensitivity and specificity of 76%. The AI model could be used for opportunistic screening of hepatic steatosis using widely available chest radiography.
- DeepEcho Gets FDA Nod for Fetal AI: DeepEcho received FDA 510(k) clearance to market its AI software for analyzing fetal ultrasound scans. DeepEcho is indicated for use as a concurrent reading and measuring aid for fetal ultrasound scans between the 14th and 41st weeks of pregnancy, and assists in the measurement of fetal parameters like head and abdominal circumference, femur length, and biparietal diameter.
- TagGen Enhances CMR: Researchers at the University of Missouri developed an AI model called TagGen that’s capable of restoring low-quality cardiac MRI scans to diagnostic standard. Trained on over 2k images, TagGen enhances visualization by producing sharper taglines that capture critical muscle movements, enabling accurate cardiological diagnoses from previously inadequate imaging data. The technology significantly reduces patient breath-holding requirements from 20+ heartbeats to just three, improving patient comfort while accelerating scan workflows.
- Service Firms Unite to Form Solutech: Medical imaging independent service organizations RS&A and Summit Imaging are uniting under a single brand, Solutech. The rebranding comes three years after RS&A acquired Summit in late 2022. The union has been complementary for both firms: Summit Imaging specializes in mammography and ultrasound equipment service, while RS&A focuses on radiation oncology.
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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.
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AI Acceleration without the Hype
The Visage AI Accelerator program is an innovation magnet – an end-to-end AI solution that bridges research and diagnostic imaging on the same, unified platform. Learn how Visage 7 provides synergistic, smart workflows and flawless third-party AI integration.
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- 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.
- New-generation Platform for Managing Multi-Omics Data: QP-Insights from Quibim is a new-generation advanced platform for the management, storage, and analysis of large-scale multi-omics data and medical images for clinical studies and research projects. Learn more on this page.
- Optimize Radiology Workflows: Harness cloud and AI technology to help your radiology teams unlock insights, increase efficiencies, and improve patient care. Learn more about an integrated approach to AI in radiology in this e-book from Microsoft.
- 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.
- An Enterprise Imaging Platform to Grow: WakeMed Health & Hospitals in North Carolina is home to award-winning chest pain centers and two nationally accredited, award-winning stroke centers. Find out how WakeMed turned to enterprise imaging solutions from AGFA HealthCare to transform the way their clinicians work.
- Going Global with Enterprise Imaging: Merge is going global by bringing its enterprise imaging solutions to new regions, marketplaces, and customers. Learn more about its recent initiatives in Puerto Rico, the U.K., Latin America, and Canada.
- Synoptic Reporting of Liver Masses: Contrast-enhanced ultrasound exams for focal liver lesions can be challenging to report in at-risk patients. Learn how Kailo Medical’s synoptic reporting solutions can make reporting easier while improving LI-RADS categorization.
- The Future of SmartTechnology: SmartTechnology is DeepHealth’s solution for bringing informatics and imaging systems closer together by embedding informatics into hardware, creating completely new workflows. Learn how it works in this interview with CTO Sham Sokka.
- Catch What You’ve Missed on Unboxing AI: Missed an episode of Unboxing AI, CARPL’s video series on AI in radiology? Check out all the past episodes on their YouTube channel.
- Transforming Stroke Care with Mobile Stroke Units: When it comes to stroke, time is brain. And many providers are turning to CT-equipped mobile stroke units to slash the time from symptom onset to diagnosis and treatment. Learn more on this page from Siemens Healthineers.
- 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%.
- A Bold Transformation in Client Experience: Intelerad is transforming how it supports customers and partners with clients through a company-wide Client Obsession initiative. The company is making investments in new tools, technologies, and staff to remove friction and deliver value – find out how it works on this page.
- A New Solution for Chest AI: Gleamer’s ChestView AI solution is a computer-aided detection (CADe) model cleared by the FDA for simultaneously detecting multiple findings on chest X-ray. Discover how it enhances explainability and confidence compared to traditional triage-focused CADt solutions.
- Maximize New CCTA Reimbursement with Philips CT 5300: Coronary CTA is the preferred noninvasive exam for detecting and ruling out CAD. Updated guidelines and improved reimbursement reinforce its value for stable or atypical chest pain. The CT 5300 from Philips delivers fast, high-quality, low-dose cardiac imaging using AI and zero-click motion correction.
- AI for Lung Cancer Diagnosis and Screening: Check out this comprehensive new eBook from Calantic by Bayer on the role of AI in lung cancer diagnosis and screening. It explores AI’s potential role in improving lung cancer screening strategies, identifying high-risk individuals, and enhancing diagnostic accuracy. Download it today.
- Can Whole-Body MRI Revolutionize Medical Imaging? In this episode of The Radiology Report, Medality CEO Daniel Arnold sits down with Daniel Durand, MD, of Prenuvo to explore how whole-body MRI is reshaping the future of preventive care.
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