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Could MRI Reduce Prostate Biopsies, Zombie Jobs Redux, and Faster CT
August 24, 2026
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Together with
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“No chance radiologists get replaced [by AI]. A model is outdated the minute it is released. Model usage costs money. A lot more than a radiologist.”
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Mark Cuban.
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If you’re looking to transform your radiology operations with new reporting technology, don’t make a move without attending our webinar later today at 12 pm ET/9 am PT. We’ll be featuring discussion from radiology key opinion leaders who have turned to reporting solutions from Microsoft to operate more efficiently. Don’t miss it! – Brian Casey, Managing Editor
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Could MRI one day reduce the need to biopsy some patients with suspected prostate cancer before they get treatment? U.K. researchers raise that intriguing prospect in a new study in European Journal of Radiology.
Biopsy is an integral part of the workup protocol for men suspected of having prostate cancer, typically due to their elevated PSA levels.
- But prostate biopsy is an invasive procedure, and can cause both complications and anxiety in patients, as well as contribute to higher healthcare costs.
MRI has proven effective in selecting which patients should be sent for biopsy and which ones can be followed with active surveillance – thus avoiding biopsy’s negative consequences.
- But what if you could eliminate biopsy altogether in some men by making the diagnosis directly with MRI, and sending patients straight to treatment?
That’s what researchers from University College Hospital in London tried in the new EJR paper by studying 880 consecutive patients who presented to their prostate clinic and got multiparametric MRI scans. Of these, 251 were considered suspicious for disease based on their scans.
- Radiologists interpreted the images, focusing specifically on cases where they were 99% certain that the suspected lesion was cancerous, but also grading cases at 90% and <90% certainty. Indeterminate cases could be forwarded to biopsy for further investigation.
Researchers discovered…
- 79 patients (9% of the total) were in the “99% certain” category, with 69 going to biopsy – and 100% had clinically significant tumors.
- 45 patients (5% of the total) were in the “90% certain” category, with 41 undergoing biopsy and 98% having clinically significant tumors.
- The combined groups represented 14% of the patients presenting to the clinic and 49% of the suspicious cases, and only one individual did not have a clinically significant tumor.
Applying the findings to real-world clinical practice, patients in the “99% certain” or “90% certain” categories could be sent straight to prostatectomy, without the need for biopsy or PSMA-PET scans.
- Such a straight-to-treatment protocol would be analogous to the treatment of kidney and testicular cancer, where patients are treated without biopsy on the basis of imaging scans that are definitive for cancer.
The Takeaway
Previous studies have found that MRI can reduce biopsies in men with low suspicion of serious disease, instead directing them to active surveillance. The new research shows MRI also works at the other end of the spectrum, sparing men with clinically significant cancer the ordeal of undergoing biopsy before they can start their treatment.
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Don’t Just Replace Reporting. Reimagine It
A reporting transition is a rare opportunity to improve workflow, reduce friction, and build for what’s next. See why health systems like Yale and Emory are choosing a modern reporting platform. Book a demo.
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One Viewer for All
Achieve ultrafast image interpretation with greater efficiency and precision with Visage 7 from Visage Imaging. Visage’s one-viewer philosophy enables all end users – from radiologists to clinicians – to access powerful tools based on clinical need.
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Unlock Next-Level Diagnostic Possibilities
Photonova Spectra from GE HealthCare is designed to realize the full potential of photon-counting CT in oncology, cardiology, neurology, and more. Learn more about the difference its Deep Silicon technology makes on this page.
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- Zombie Job Follow-Up: RadBoard.io provided an update to its recent report on radiologist “zombie jobs” – job listings open longer than 60 days. In the new analysis, 52% of advertised positions have been open 90 days or longer, and 19% of ads haven’t come down since RadBoard started tracking them. (Maybe one problem is that 82% of “stuck” positions never changed the advertised salary.) The new study also analyzes “stuck rates” – jobs advertised for 90 days or longer – by state, supporting regional analysis of radiologist job supply and demand.
- AI Drives Faster CT Turnaround: An AI algorithm developed to prioritize emergency CT scans produced faster turnaround times in a new study in Radiology: Artificial Intelligence. The AI model predicted clinical actionability of ordered CT scans and prioritized them for earlier interpretation. In testing on 20.8k exams, AI reduced median wait times for actionable studies by 11 minutes versus a first-in, first-out policy, and by 6 minutes for nonactionable exams. The proportion of actionable findings interpreted within one hour also rose (from 48% to 57%).
- Lung Cancer Screening from Cardiac CT: Patients getting cardiac CT scans could also be candidates for lung cancer screening. In a new study in Annals of Thoracic Surgery, researchers reviewed cardiac CT exams for 17.2k patients, finding that 2.7% were current smokers, 23% were former smokers, and 0.7% met USPSTF 2021 lung screening criteria. In all, 73 patients developed lung cancer after their cardiac CT scan, and just one of these was eligible for screening – underscoring the potential to mine cardiac CT populations to find screening candidates who fall outside existing criteria.
- Photon-Counting CT Cuts CAC Dose 90%: Researchers cut radiation dose for coronary artery calcium (CAC) studies by 90% with ultra-low-dose photon-counting CT. In a new JCCT study with 71 patients, a true non-contrast PCCT protocol produced sharply lower dose than conventional energy-integrating-detector (EID) coronary CT angiography as measured by median dose-length product (7.98 mGy·cm vs. 428 mGy·cm), with excellent agreement. Two virtual techniques generated from standard CCTA images did not perform as well.
- Mixed Results for Chest X-Ray AI: Four commercially available AI algorithms for chest X-ray analysis turned in mixed results in a new study in Academic Radiology. Researchers tested the accuracy of five radiology residents using the four (unnamed) AI models to interpret chest radiographs from 1.2k patients. Accuracy of residents with AI dropped, mostly due to lower specificity caused by more false positives. On the positive side, most of the radiologists had 30%-40% shorter interpretation times, and diagnostic confidence was higher as well.
- MRI Detects Alzheimer’s Earlier: MRI-derived measurements of cortical thickness in the brain could detect early signs of Alzheimer’s disease up to seven years before amyloid accumulation shows up on PET scans. In a new study in Nature Neuroscience, Norwegian researchers started with 1.1k patients drawn from lifespan research studies who had been diagnosed with high amyloid beta accumulation on PET. A review of MRI scans acquired years before their amyloid positivity was detected found that those with high beta amyloid levels had thicker cortices and less cortical thinning over time.
- PET Tracer Gets Breakthrough Status: A diagnostic PET radiotracer being developed by a Chinese company was granted Breakthrough Therapy designation by the FDA. Norroy Bioscience is developing gallium-68-NYM096 for PET imaging of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). The company claims it is the first Chinese-developed radiopharmaceutical to get Breakthrough Therapy designation, and noted the FDA is reviewing the tracer under a fast track review process.
- Cancer Rates Drop for Younger Canadians: Overall cancer rates for young Americans have been on the decline, and new data from their northern neighbor show similar improvements. Research published in JAMA Network Open showed lung and breast cancers, which are targeted by imaging-based screening, have decreased at an annualized rate of 3.9% and 1.9%, respectively. Still, just like in the U.S., colorectal cancer rates have shown a concerning 1.1% rise in young Canadians, and the death toll is growing with it.
- New Education Path for X-Ray Techs: A new online education pathway enabling X-ray technologists to earn associate’s degrees in radiologic technology is being launched by the Center for Radiology Education and John Patrick University of Health and Applied Sciences. The program enables technologists who graduated from limited-scope radiography programs – which involve just a few months of training – to earn an associate of science in radiologic technology degree in as few as 16 months. Transfer and test-out credits are available, as well as scholarships of up to $10k.
- AI for Manuscript Review: Academic journals (and manuscript reviewers) are getting crushed under a flood of research paper submissions. Could AI tools like large language models (LLMs) help stem the tide? In a new paper in Academic Radiology, researchers assigned eight different LLMs to review 15 open-access radiology manuscripts. Across 720 LLM-generated reviews, only 4.9% were accepted on first pass, while major revisions were requested for 44% and minor revisions for 51%. The design of LLM prompts significantly affected acceptance rates.
- Tanenbaum Steps Up at Subtle: Subtle Medical has tapped Lawrence Tanenbaum, MD, as the company’s newest executive medical director and chair of its medical advisory board. This isn’t Tanenbaum’s introduction to the company, though. He has worked as an advisor to Subtle since 2019, during his tenure as VP, CTO, and director of advanced imaging at RadNet. Earlier this year, Subtle moved into the CT market, an area Tanenbaum also has experience in as the former director of MRI, CT, and imaging development at the Icahn School of Medicine.
- Visage Scores Big in Virginia: Visage Imaging just landed another big enterprise imaging installation, this time in Virginia. The company secured a seven-year $18M agreement to deploy its Visage 7 solutions at Valley Health, a health system operating six hospitals in the state. The cloud-based contract includes the full stack of Visage solutions, including viewer, workflow, and open archive, as well as cardiology imaging.
- SimonMed Deploys Optellum Lung AI: Imaging center operator SimonMed will deploy Optellum’s AI-based lung nodule management solution into its clinical workflow for patients with nodules detected on chest CT scans. Optellum’s software generates lung cancer risk prediction scores for pulmonary nodules, which are often detected incidentally and can be challenging for clinicians to follow up. The Optellum deployment will build on SimonMed’s existing relationship with Infervision by adding risk prediction to Infervision’s nodule-sizing and interval-growth tracking capabilities.
- Infinitt and Coreline’s Second Collab: Infinitt North America and Coreline Soft collaborated on their second deployment in North America. The companies worked together to install a chest CT-based AI reading workflow at St. Joseph’s Health in Paterson, New Jersey that integrates Coreline’s AVIEW AI analysis platform with St. Joseph’s existing Infinitt PACS environment.
- India Launches Lung Screening Trial: India is launching a clinical trial to test the viability of low-dose CT lung cancer screening. Lung cancer is the second most frequent cancer in men in the country, with 59k cases a year, and there is a lack of evidence on whether LDCT screening findings from Western countries would apply to India. In the Indian Lung Screening Trial, researchers aim to accrue 1.7k patients who meet criteria for being at high risk, mostly due to their smoking histories.
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5 Data Migration Myths You May Still Believe
Many healthcare organizations fall victim to data migration myths that derail their efforts, waste valuable resources, and put their business at risk. Learn about five common myths and how they cost you in this article from Laitek, an Enlitic portfolio company.
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Your Most Expensive System May Be PACS
Aging PACS carries costs most budgets never name: maintenance, downtime, and cybersecurity exposure. Mach7’s modernization framework gives imaging and IT leaders six business factors to weigh before an RFP, plus the migration questions to answer first. Read the framework.
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A Long-Term Partnership
Nashville General Hospital aimed to enhance their mammography and CT systems to remain competitive, and Fujifilm stood out as the right fit. Learn how they enhanced patient care with Fujifilm’s ASPIRE Cristalle 3D mammography system and Scenaria View CT scanner.
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- The Workstation of the Future: A dedicated team of radiologists shapes every aspect of the functionality and design of MosaicOS from Mosaic Clinical Technologies. Learn how every feature was built to eliminate distractions, amplify focus, and enhance the radiologist experience.
- Rapid AI Deployment in Emergency Care: University Hospitals used CARPL to deploy AZmed’s fracture detection tool directly in the emergency department, reducing interpretation time by 30% without disrupting workflows. Learn how UH accelerated AI deployment.
- What If the Biggest Problem Facing Your Radiology Practice Isn’t Your PACS? While most organizations continue evaluating imaging systems, the operational challenges that drive burnout, staffing shortages, and slower turnaround times continue to grow. Discover why leading radiology groups are shifting their focus from imaging to operational transformation.
- The Modern Way to Send and Receive Medical Images: Medicom Connect enables you to automate clinical image exchange across your healthcare ecosystem with workflows that automatically find, retrieve, and deliver images directly to the point of care, improving access and care coordination. Learn more about Medicom’s solutions today.
- Imaging Tools for Heroes: Radiology departments are currently pushed to their limits by interconnected challenges. Staff shortages and heavy workloads form a vicious circle. Different measures are needed to address these challenges. Intelligent imaging from Siemens Healthineers can be one of them.
- A New Fleet. A New Era for CT: Imaging teams are being asked to do more across clinical settings, with speed, clarity, and consistency. Introducing Rembra, Rembra RT, Areta RT, and Verida, a CT portfolio from Philips designed to support high-demand imaging environments. Learn more.
- The Path to Digital Pathology: Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City had a vision: digital pathology coupled with fully integrated radiology, all in one enterprise imaging system. Learn how they turned this vision into reality on this page from Sectra.
- Adding AI Automation to Radiology Reporting: Reporting Pro from DeepHealth is a next-generation AI-powered solution designed to transform the way radiologists generate clinical reports and findings. Discover how it can transform your practice.
- A New Resource for Radiology Jobs: Check out the new Job Boards from Medality to gain access to newly posted positions for radiologists, residents, and fellows. If you’re an employer, post your first job for free to reach Medality’s network of over 40,000 monthly users.
- Why Are Radiologists Still Dictating Measurements? Twenty years since voice dictation systems supporting DICOM Structured Reporting replaced manual radiology report transcription, why are radiologists still dictating measurements? Check out this white paper to find out how Altamont Software’s Passport SR can help you automate reporting.
- Advancing Enterprise Imaging With IntelePACS: Watch this on-demand webinar to learn how IntelePACS from Intelerad helps radiology groups, hospitals, and health systems simplify imaging workflows through a scalable, enterprise-ready platform.
- Making a Difference For Pediatric Patients and Families: A new study published by Stanford Children’s and Duke examined over a year and a half of patient feedback following the implementation of patient-friendly radiology reports from Scanslated. Learn about the positive impact Scanslated can create for your patients today.
- Leadership in Life Sciences: Quibim is committed to accelerating its development within the life sciences sector and strengthening collaborations with leading pharmaceutical companies. Learn about recent leadership developments that are moving the company forward.
- Connected Imaging. Empowered Flow: Know those rare and indescribable moments at work when distractions melt away? AGFA HealthCare’s Enterprise Imaging Platform is designed to keep you in that hyper-focused state of mind all day long. Learn more about their solutions today.
- Fewer Biopsies, Better Accuracy: AI is converging with TI-RADS and BI-RADS in ways that go beyond automation. Read this article from Kailo Medical to learn how structured reporting is reducing unnecessary biopsies, improving consistency, and reclaiming clinical time.
- CAC Reimbursement for Routine Chest CT: The new Medicare code G0680 brings reimbursement for coronary artery calcium (CAC), enabling health systems to transform routine imaging into a proactive cardiovascular screening tool. Use Riverain’s customizable ROI calculator to demonstrate its potential financial impact on your operations.
- The Heart of a 30-Year Relationship: Regional Medical Imaging (RMI) has relied on Merge for its enterprise imaging needs for over 30 years. Learn how Merge gives RMI the scalability and flexibility to keep up with growth, while Merge’s cloud solution helps offload strain on the network.
- Elevating Outpatient Imaging in Texas: River Oaks MRI & Diagnostic in Texas was founded on a simple but powerful idea: to bring high-quality, accessible imaging to the local community. Learn how they turned to United Imaging to help realize their vision.
- AI Echo in Community Heart Failure Screening: Breathlessness affects 10% of the adult population and can be a symptom of heart failure. Learn how a community-based program in the U.K. is using AI-assisted echocardiography from Us2.ai to achieve guideline-directed diagnostic quality in a community setting.
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