January 9, 2025 A scan showing a coronary angiogram. Credit: UC San Francisco
The radiologist was dead.
Or at least that’s what artificial intelligence (AI) experts prophesized in 2016 when they said AI would outperform radiologists within the decade.
Today, AI isn’t replacing imaging specialists, but its use is leading health care providers to reimagine the field. That’s why UC San Francisco was among the first U.S. universities to combine AI and machine learning with medical imaging in research and education by opening its Center for Intelligent Imaging .
Take a look at how UCSF researchers are pioneering human-centered AI solutions to some of medicine’s biggest challenges. Spot illnesses earlier
AI developed at UCSF is now helping radiologists around the world spot cases of collapsed lung after being licensed by GE Healthcare. Now featured in GE products, the technology helps flag potential cases to physicians via alerts like the one pictured. Tens of thousands of Americans suffer pneumothoraces, a type of collapsed lung, annually. The condition is caused by trauma or lung disease — and serious cases can be deadly if diagnosed late or left untreated. The problem:
This type of collapsed lung is difficult to identify: The illness can mimic others both in symptoms and in x-rays, in which only subtle clues may indicate its presence. Meanwhile, radiologists must interpret hundreds of images daily, and some hospitals do not have around-the-clock radiologists. The solution:
UCSF researchers created the first AI bedside program to help flag potential cases to radiologists. In 2019, the tool was the first AI innovation of its kind to be licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Today, it’s used in thousands of GE Healthcare machines around the world. How did they do it?
Researchers from the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging created a database of thousands of anonymous chest X-rays. Some of these images showed cases of collapsed lungs and others not. Next, researchers trained the AI tool on this database before testing it on thousands of other images to ensure it could flag potential cases accurately.The AI screener works with portable X-ray machines, […]
4 ways artificial intelligence is poised to transform medicine
