AI in Medical Imaging Round-Up – January 2024

Publication Date: 02/02/2024

Written by

Ellie Baker

Cranfield, UK, 2nd February 2024, Written by Ellie Baker –

Hello! It has been an exciting start to 2024 for vendors within the medical imaging AI market, with a plethora of new announcements. Please find below some of the main developments that have caught my eye:

There was a flurry of strategic distribution partnerships throughout January, boosting AI vendor market access and allowing entry for some vendors into new regions. DeepTek partnered with AIOne, the vendor’s first step into the UK market. The UK is known for its willingness to adopt AI in practice, providing several funding initiatives to support AI deployment. However, the vendor may run into some stiff competition when offering its Augmento platform here, with the NHS announcing the piloting of its own AI deployment platform throughout hospitals in the UK. Other distribution agreements include Riverain Technologies and NoLa Hospital as well as Annalise.ai collaborating with Emerging Global Technologies, building the vendor’s presence in the Middle East.
Lunit Cancer Screening announced a three-year supply contract with Samsung Electronics, providing the Lunit INSIGHT CXR and Lunit INSIGHT CXR Triage solutions alongside Samsung’s premium X-Ray devices. The partnership aims to increase efficiencies in the ICU and emergency rooms, leading to faster interventions and improved patient outcomes in hospital settings with the greatest need. The partnership is not expected to move the needle significantly, as similar examples have been seen before; AGFA HealthCare has integrated Lunit INSIGHT CXR software in the MUSICA workstation and GLEAMER has partnered with FUJIFILM Corporation, integrating BoneView into Fujifilm’s X-ray imaging systems. However, it is still a smart move for both vendors with Lunit benefitting from increased market access and offering Samsung an avenue to upsell the solution and generate a new source of revenue.
I would like to point your attention to a research paper published in Radiology this month. Kicky van Leeuwen‘s team in the Netherlands undertook an independent review of nine AI applications for detecting lung nodules on chest radiographs and predicting bone age on hand radiographs. Out of the seven AI algorithms for detecting lung nodules, only four showed improved performance compared with human readers. This highlights the importance of independent reviews of AI solutions as well as demonstrates the harsh disparity in AI solution performance when used on real-world populations rather than in retrospective study samples. More research of a similar vein will be welcomed in the future.
There have been exciting advancements within the AI reimbursement landscape as, for the first time, the American Medical Association has established a Category I CPT code which will be used to bill for FFRCT Analysis; the first example of the evolution of Category III CPT codes to a Category I CPT code. Category I CPT codes have a relative value unit attached, ensuring compulsory payment for physicians utilising the AI solution. This sets a precedent for other AI ISVs within the market, demonstrating the need to advocate for increased utilisation of relevant Category III CPT codes, provide additional clinical evidence (FISH&CHIPS study in the case of HeartFlow, Inc) and campaign for updated practice guidelines. This is no mean feat however, and it is expected that some vendors will fail to generate the level of evidence required for the conversion of certain Category III CPT codes to Category I CPT codes. This has been seen within the Inpatient Prospective Payment System, where several NTAP codes have been revoked.
Cleerly has launched Cleerly ISCHEMIA, a first-of-its-kind solution to determine the likelihood of coronary artery ischemia. The solution builds upon the Cleerly Labs solution capability to determine quantitative measures of atherosclerosis, stenosis, and significant vascular morphology from patients’ CCTA images. Cleerly ISCHEMIA provides an avenue for differentiation from other vendors in the cardiology imaging AI market, providing additional comprehensiveness to its solution. The solution may also be able to benefit from the newly updated Category I CPT code mentioned above, further driving its adoption in the clinic.
Sermohas made bold claims that 2024 will not be the year we see the widespread introduction of AI in hospitals and health systems after the results of its 32nd Barometer survey. Only a quarter of healthcare professionals claimed they had implemented AI in their organisation, highlighting the nascency of the AI market to date. However, it does provide insight into market access opportunities for AI ISVs and poses some interesting questions around how AI ISVs can increase AI adoption. Vendors should focus on demonstrating real world evidence, ensuring scalable business models and pursuing reimbursement.
Lunit Cancer Screening announced its proposal to acquire Volpara Health at the end of 2023, with the companies entering into a Scheme Implementation Agreement. Throughout January, Volpara Health has demonstrated why it was Lunit’s vendor of choice with the publication of two new research papers. The first highlighted a new dose model that will be integrated into Volpara’s TruRadDose algorithm while the second found that employing Volpara Analytics software could help breast radiographers to improve their screening image quality by up to 16%. Volpara also added another distribution partner in the US: Hackensack Meridian Health, further increasing its market access within the US.

January was filled with many exciting announcements within the medical imaging AI market and the news stories covered above are not an exhaustive list. Qure.ai and Envisionit Deep AI® received FDA approval and several platform partnerships were announced. deepc added qure.ai and Blackford Analysis added both Rayscape and Nurea. Anything I’ve missed, feel free to comment below. I’ll be visiting ECR at the end of the month and look forward to hearing about new product developments and market trends at the conference. If you would like to arrange a meeting, please get in touch.

About The Author

Ellie joined Signify Research in 2023 as part of the Medical Imaging team. She holds a BSc in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Bath and an MSc in Clinical Drug Development from University College London.

About the AI in Healthcare Team

Signify Research’s AI in Medical Imaging service provides expert market intelligence and detailed insights for several of the leading AI and Imaging IT vendors. Combining primary data collection and in-depth discussions with industry stakeholders, our thorough research approach yields credible quantitative and qualitative analysis, helping our customers make critical business decisions with confidence. Furthermore, our commitment to seeking a plurality of perspectives across the markets we cover guarantees that our insights remain independent and balanced.

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