Written by
Share article:
Cranfield, UK, 6th August 2024, Written by Jake Bennett –
July really was a busy month for imaging IT announcements, picking my highlights has been a struggle! Plenty of partnerships, cloud was also an undercurrent in most announcements and developments for enterprise imaging, read my highlights below:
Guess Who’s Path, Path Again
Enterprise imaging player, AGFA HealthCare has announced the launch of its pathology enterprise imaging offering. The new pathology solution is powered by partner Corista’s DP3 system and is now available for commercial use in North America. The launch comes some 7 months after the partnership between AGFA and Corista was initially announced, and will be a welcome addition for AGFA, as many of its competitors already tote an EI-integrated pathology solution. Similarly, Siemens’ long-time pathology partner Proscia has expanded its Concentriq AP-Dx digital pathology offerings into the US, bolstering Siemens’ enterprise imaging portfolio to now include diagnostic digital pathology. These product launches appear to be timed reasonably well however, as intrigue around digital pathology as part of the enterprise imaging story peaks. Pathology was one of our main highlighted trends at SIIM 2024, and we’re expecting it to be one of the central themes of this year’s RSNA conference also.
Reporting Is Rad
US-based radiology reporting player, Rad AI, announced its first commercial foray outside of the US, with a partnership with MIC Medical Imaging in Canada. The new agreement will give over 100 radiologists access to Rad AI Reporting and is a significant first step in the relatively young company’s international expansion. Later in the month, Rad AI announced another partnership with Wake Radiology, an outpatient imaging provider in Raleigh, North Carolina. These developments come after the firm announced Rad AI’s solutions would be available on Bayer’s Calantic platform at SIIM 2024. Recent announcements and expanded conference attendance for Rad AI leads me to believe we’ll see more international announcements for it over the next 12-18 months.
Smart Reporting announced an extension to its existing partnership with Solventum (formerly 3M Health Care) for reporting in the UK. Solventum will integrate its speech recognition and AI powered solution into SmartReports. There is an opportunity for both Solventum and Smart Reporting to extend this new solution to their existing installed base.
Cloud And AI, The Winning Combo?
Cloud-native PACS vendor Eden secured $10 million in funding this month, and appears to have big ambitions with the new money. CEO @Julian Rios said the company aims to process “the most medical diagnoses in all of Latin America”, starting with its home country of Mexico. Eden aims to achieve these lofty ambitions by employing cutting-edge technologies, namely cloud-native applications and integration of AI into its EdenPACS solution. Latin America is poised to embrace these kinds of technologies and interest in Eden’s application is growing at a steady pace. Domestic vendors such as Eden, MV and IMEXHS all wield a home-ground advantage over international competitors in this emerging market.
Eden aren’t the only small-to-mid sized PACS vendor employing cutting edge technology to try and carve out their own niche in the market. AdvaHealth, a Singapore/New Zealand-based cloud-native PACS company recently announced a partnership with AI platform vendor CARPL.ai, which will see AdvaHealth integrate the AI marketplace into their cloud workflow. This is the second recent announcement of CARPL partnering with an imaging IT vendor in recent months, having announced a similar venture with Philips in Brazil.
Adding to the news, Paxera Health has just announced a partnership with AI platform vendor, Ferrum Health. Paxera will integrate Ferrum into its enterprise imaging solution, providing Paxera’s installed base with a turn-key solution for clinical AI. No specifics have been given on the geographic nature of the partnership, but given Ferrum’s US location, it will likely cover North America. It will be interesting to see how the relationship between AI platforms and imaging IT vendors develops over the coming years.
AV In The Cloud?
Clinical cloud adoption is firmly led by radiology IT, with software like universal viewers, VNAs and image exchange regularly hosted in the cloud, leaving the likes of advanced visualisation (AV) IT to play catch up. So the launch of Philips’ AV offering, IntelliSpace, as a cloud-based application on AWS is one of the early movers for AV cloud-hosted applications. Maintaining performance of complex and high-compute power rendering of images is one of the main barriers to cloud hosted AV IT. Other vendors are beginning to trial some of their AV tools in the cloud, and I expect we’ll see more announcements like this one by RSNA.
Enterprise Is The Prize
Konica Minolta announced a new agreement with Apollo Enterprise Imaging, to pair the former’s Exa platform with the latter’s VNA capabilities. This partnership offers Konica an opportunity to compete in “enterprise radiology” deals. This is a clear signal to wider ambitions the vendor has to expand its strategy and become an enterprise-focused business. You can read more about our views on Konica’s journey to enterprise imaging in our recently published Signify Premium Insight here.
RIS Partnerships Aplenty
AbbaDox and Merge have announced a RIS-based partnership, whereby Merge will begin using AbbaDox’s cloud-native CareFlow RIS. Merge will be sunsetting its Merge RIS and Unity RIS products and will begin exclusively selling CareFlow RIS instead. The two companies together will continue to provide targeted solutions for the outpatient and ambulatory care segment, and the cloud-native CareFlow platform will provide flexibility to disparate networks of imaging centres.
Similarly, UK/Poland-based RIS specialist Aptvision last month also announced a partnership with Canon Medical Europe, specifically for the UK, Ireland and the Nordics. Canon will integrate Aptvision’s RIS into its enterprise imaging informatics portfolio, including PACS, VNA, viewer and AV.
If you have any questions about the announcements discussed here or have any research requirements for the wider Imaging IT market, please reach out. Feel free to message me on LinkedIn, reach out via email at jake.bennett@signifyresearch.net, or book a meeting with me here!
Related Research
Signify Research’s imaging IT service provides expert market intelligence and detailed insights across radiology IT, cardiology IT, and advanced visualisation IT, alongside operational workflow & business intelligence tools. 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. Throughout the course of 2024, the imaging IT team will be further assessing developments in the market through its’ Imaging IT Market Intelligence Service.
About The Author
Jake is the Senior Market Analyst on the Imaging IT team and joined Signify Research in late 2023, after over half a decade in the medical devices and healthcare market research industries.
About Signify Research
Signify Research provides healthtech market intelligence powered by data that you can trust. We blend insights collected from in-depth interviews with technology vendors and healthcare professionals with sales data reported to us by leading vendors to provide a complete and balanced view of the market trends. Our coverage areas are Medical Imaging, Clinical Care, Digital Health, Diagnostic and Lifesciences and Healthcare IT.
Clients worldwide rely on direct access to our expert Analysts for their opinions on the latest market trends and developments. Our market analysis reports and subscriptions provide data-driven insights which business leaders use to guide strategic decisions. We also offer custom research services for clients who need information that can’t be obtained from our off-the-shelf research products or who require market intelligence tailored to their specific needs.
More Information
To find out more:
E: enquiries@signifyresearch.net
T: +44 (0) 1234 986111
www.signifyresearch.net