The Top Trends at RSNA 2017

The Radiological Association of North America's (RSNA) 2017 conference will be remembered as the year artificial intelligence (AI) exploded in radiology. It was by far the biggest news and overall trend in sessions and throughout the expo floor. The key message was AI is here to help and augment radiologists, not replace them. The majority of the AI examples on the show floor run in the background of radiology IT systems to aid workflow, not offer its own clinical findings. 

Here are links to ITN’s coverage of AI at RSNA 2017:

• VIDEO: Technology Report: Artificial Intelligence at RSNA 2017

• Why AI By Any Name Is Sweet For Radiology 

• VIDEO: Deep Learning is Key Technology Trend at RSNA 2017

• VIDEO: How Utilization of Artificial Intelligence Will Impact Radiology

• VIDEO: Examples of How Artificial Intelligence Will Improve Medical Imaging

Contributing editor and radiology industry expert Greg Freiherr offers insights about the key trends and technologies at RSNA in the following content:

• Value in Radiology Takes on Added Depth at RSNA 2017

• RSNA 2017: Often Real Systems (Were) Not Available

RSNA is radiology’s premier conference of the year and is used to launch hundreds of new products and to show work-in-progress technologies. Take a tour of some of these technologies in the VIDEO “Editor's Choice of the Most Innovative New Imaging Technology at RSNA 2017.”

One of the big issues facing radiology is the potential safety regarding MRI gadolinium contrast retention. The takeaway message from attending numerous sessions and interviews on this topic is that more data is needed from large-scale, long-term patient studies. So far none of these have been established. Additionally, radiology has done a poor job of recording in the patient record what the contrast doses were or even what contrast agent was used. It is hard to conclude if there are any safety issues from incomplete or missing data and only relying on patients complaining of symptoms that may or may not be related to their MRIs. I met with two of the top RSNA MRI experts and you can watch the video interviews with Max Wintermark, M.D., professor of radiology and chief of neuroradiology, Stanford Hospital and Clinics, and Emanuel Kanal, M.D., director of MRI services and professor of radiology and neuroradiology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

You can read an additional overview blog about the the current state of the gadolinium safety question, “Radiology Has Failed to Properly Assess or Track MRI Gadolinium Contrast Safety.”

Here is a link to all the key RSNA 2017 study presentations, trends and and videos. 

See what products vendors displayed at RSNA 2017 with listings by modality on the ITN FastPass microsite at www.rsnafastpass.com.