Carestream Health is set to present a new artificial intelligence application integrated with its enterprise imaging platform at the SIIM Machine Learning Showcase underway at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

The application consists of advanced imaging analytics software tools that enable Carestream’s Clinical Collaboration Platform to help radiologists diagnose diseases before symptoms occur, and more accurately interpret findings, thereby enhancing workflow, improving patient health and reducing costly medical errors.

“These tools analyze data within radiographic images to detect a variety of diseases and conditions including osteoporosis, emphysema, elevated levels of coronary calcium and fatty liver, which can indicate increased risk for coronary events and early stages of diabetes,” Thierry Verstraete, Carestream’s worldwide product line manager for health care IT clinical solutions and analytics, told HCB News. “The app aids in detection of specific findings, but the radiologist remains the clinical expert.”
The software uses advanced machine vision algorithms from a third-party provider to pinpoint abnormalities on imaging exams in real time, and alerts radiologists to any incidental findings that may or may not be associated with suspected diseases.

Physicians can then screen imaging studies for asymptomatic conditions, such as low bone density, without the presence of osteopenia or fractures. It also triages exams by using AI to help identify medically urgent findings.

The tools are currently being evaluated by several institutions and systems in the U.S. and abroad, one of which is University of Virginia Health System. Since implementing the software last spring, radiologists there have experienced many of its benefits, including reminders to input relevant incidental findings in reports and assistance in teaching residents how to read exams.

“If the imaging analytics software indicates that a patient’s bone density is abnormal and the patient has no history of osteoporosis or other bone-density issues, the radiologist might recommend a dedicated DEXA scan for further evaluation,” Cree M. Gaskin, professor and chief of musculoskeletal imaging and intervention at the University of Virginia Health System, told HCB News. “But if the patient’s medical record shows that she has already been diagnosed with osteoporosis, the radiologist would not include the recommendation in the report because the referrer and patient are likely to be aware of the condition, and treatment is probably already underway.”

Carestream is one of the first health care providers to integrate turnkey imaging analytics features within an enterprise imaging platform. It recently presented a developing range of imaging technology and health care IT solutions this past June at the combined annual U.K. Radiological Congress and Radiation Oncology Congress in Manchester, England.

The showcase takes place from September 26-27.

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