The world’s radiologists are struggling. Nearly half of those surveyed by the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) said they were burned out. Thousands retired during the pandemic, more than half of current practitioners are 55 or older, and medical schools can’t replace them fast enough. Additionally, the number of exams soared to more than 2.6 billion, and the amount of data captured in each one skyrocketed over the past decade. Increasing rates of cancer, dementia and cardiovascular disease, plus an aging population, are driving a relentless increase in workload for radiologists. This surge in demand is exacerbating an already critical shortage of radiologists, intensifying the strain and significantly contributing to burnout within the profession.
GE HealthCare’s technologies aim to address these challenges, particularly when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI), digitization and advanced imaging. Its innovations could enable providers to streamline process and workflows, scan and read images faster, provide precise and personalized care to patients no matter who or where they are, and improve overall patient health — all while reducing their workload. The company showcased some of its newest advances at the RSNA 2024 Annual Meeting, held December 1-4 in Chicago.
“The challenges radiologists face continue to grow, placing extraordinary pressure on an indispensable part of the healthcare continuum,” said Peter Arduini, CEO of GE HealthCare. “GE HealthCare is on a mission to deliver technologies that address radiologists’ biggest areas of concern. Through our AI-enabled solutions and smart devices, we strive to support the health system by providing a personalized care pathway for each patient while helping clinicians deliver a more personal, precise and human approach to care, from diagnosis to treatment to recovery.”
AI in healthcare
GE HealthCare aims to build the next generation of AI-enabled tools to address these challenges — and make healthcare more human and more flexible — with smarter, connected, scalable solutions. AI can help speed up time-consuming processes, prioritize crucial information and provide actionable insights to empower clinicians, rather than overburden them. With its long history of innovation, including the first full-body computed tomography (CT) scanner, its commercialization of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and advances in handheld ultrasound, as well as its 80 AI-enabled device authorizations from the U.S. Food and Drug administration (FDA), the most of any medtech company globally, GE HealthCare is well positioned to meet the challenge.
Speed and accuracy are crucial, because the radiology technologist vacancy rate increased to 18% in 2024 — triple the rate just three years ago. This staffing shortage has led to increased patient wait times and time pressure on technologists. By automating repetitive administrative tasks and transforming mountains of data into meaningful insights, AI-enabled tools can deliver the right information at the right time.
Unveiled at RSNA 2024, Sonic DL for 3D[1] is a deep-learning innovation designed to reduce scan times by up to 86%. Following the launch of Sonic DL for cardiac imaging, this extension to 3D is expected to offer enhanced resolution for brain, spine, orthopedic and body imaging. Sonic DL for 3D builds on the success of GE HealthCare’s AIR Recon DL, which has already benefited more than 34 million patients.[2] By extending Sonic DL to 3D volumetric imaging, the technology aims to retain the same impressive scanning speed of up to 12 times acceleration while maintaining diagnostic quality.
“Our deep-learning, effortless imaging portfolio has already seen great success with AIR Recon DL and Sonic DL for cardiac. Now, with Sonic DL’s expansion to 3D and its ability to combine with AIR Recon DL, we’re offering a combination of speed, accuracy and clarity,” said Kelly Londy, president and CEO of Global MR at GE HealthCare “We believe Sonic DL will be a game changer in key clinical areas, substantially impacting our customers’ ability to deliver high-quality care while enhancing the capabilities of their existing systems through seamless upgrades.”
Similar to Sonic DL and AIR Recon DL, but for use in nuclear medicine, Clarify DL[3] was also showcased. The solution is a bone image reconstruction algorithm powered by AI, designed to enhance bone SPECT image quality, an important factor in increasing diagnostic confidence. It is also designed to be leveraged for musculoskeletal work (MSK), oncology and more.
Innovations that improve access to care
GE HealthCare is a pioneer in handheld ultrasound, bringing portable, pocket-size wireless ultrasound devices that provide crystal-clear image quality to clinicians’ fingertips. Today the Vscan Air™ family is expanding to other solutions like Venue Sprint,™ a compact system in a tablet form that offers advanced capabilities for high-quality scanning and support at the point of care. Venue™ family ultrasound systems integrate wireless Vscan Air dual probes and have access to Caption Guidance,™ using deep-learning algorithms for image analysis to guide users on how to adjust the ultrasound probe. It provides real-time, turn-by-turn, on-screen guidance to prompt probe movements and help capture diagnostic-quality images. This technology is designed to enable more clinicians to confidently conduct cardiac ultrasound scans and triage patients, which can reduce the burden on sonographers and radiology departments.
Venue family systems including Venue Sprint offer tools to help with tasks such as measuring bladder volume, calculating arterial flow volume and detecting and tracking nerve landmarks. These clinical tools offer further guidance and support to assist users wherever they need to go to bring care to their patients — with the added flexibility of Vscan Air, which has even provided care on remote islands in Japan and Greece.
“The Venue Sprint is designed to empower clinicians to deliver care wherever it is needed with the simplicity, flexibility and support they require to make confident clinical decisions,” said Karley Yoder, CEO Comprehensive Care Ultrasound, at GE HealthCare. “We are excited to expand and enhance our point-of-care portfolio with unique solutions that build on our strengths in digital and handheld ultrasound to help clinicians navigate the evolving healthcare landscape.”
Making healthcare more human
Ultimately, AI-enabled solutions could make healthcare more human by making it more connected, personal and flexible for clinicians and patients alike. For patients, this could mean a quicker path to diagnosis, treatment and recovery through more precise and personalized care; for clinicians, AI-powered capabilities could automate mundane, repetitive administrative tasks and seamlessly connect the data dots — from screening and diagnosis to treatment and monitoring — delivering the right information at the right time; and for health systems, this could translate to boosted efficiency and unlocked capacity as resources are better utilized, expanding access to care without overburdening healthcare workers.
GE HealthCare has taken customers’ greatest challenges and worked backward to develop innovative solutions that allow radiologists to be more efficient and work smarter. Its AI-powered tools aim to relieve burnout and stress by reducing unnecessary tasks and freeing up time for clinicians so they can better focus on caring for their patients or doing research to improve diagnoses and treatment. That allows for a more personalized patient experience and can help enable healthcare professionals to provide better patient outcomes.
During RSNA 2024, GE HealthCare showcased some of its newest innovations. It also highlighted its commitment to building on a 125-year legacy of technological advances by developing the next generation of AI-enabled tools, centered on enabling precision care through smart devices, targeted therapies, disease-specific solutions and digital tools that integrate data and insights to optimize the clinical and patient journey. GE HealthCare’s legacy and world-leading number of AI-enabled device authorizations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are a testament to a continued commitment to leveraging AI responsibility in order to create a world where healthcare has no limits.
[1] Sonic DL for 3D is 510(k) pending at the U.S. FDA. Not available for sale in the United States. Not yet CE marked. Not available for sale in all regions.
[2] Calculated using IB data with an estimation of 20 scans per day, 5.5 days per week, from 4 weeks after delivery to September 2024.
[3] Clarify DL is CE marked as part of Xeleris V. 510(k) pending at the U.S. FDA. Not available for sale in the United States.
