AI is Becoming a Norm in Radiology

In the last few years, Artificial Intelligence has been making serious leaps and bounds in radiology. All the commotion has prompted the American College of Radiology (ACR) to enact the Data Science Institute (DSI), an organization that aims to facilitate the advancements of AI in conjunction with radiology. The DSI expects to improve clinical practice through establishing standards for interoperability and creating a shared database for AI algorithms and software.

The DSI was announced on May 21 at the ACR annual conference in Washington DC. The organization has plans to be involved in a wide spectrum of radiology practices, including evaluating cases to be used in AI medical imaging and determining legal and regulatory matters involving AI in the medical imaging field.

Similar to how the ACR worked with the National Electrical Manufacturers’ Association (NEMA) to implement Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICM), a set of standards for networking imaging equipment, the DSI will decide on the best standards that will allow AI to work tandem with radiology practices.

The DSI’s government relations sector will also collaborate with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to design interoperable regulations. Patient safety is a foremost priority, and the institute seeks to create protocol for testing and screening AI medical imaging algorithms. They’re also striving to create an archive of AI algorithms and software akin to ACR’s Transmission of Imaging and Data program.

“Having someone tell you that a machine is doing your job in 10 years is something that can cause trepidation in a radiologist,” said Bibb Allen, MD, DSI’s Chief Medical Officer. “Certainly, none of us believe that’s necessarily true, and it totally underestimates the value artificial intelligence can bring to medicine.”