Photo: GE HealthCare
March 18, 2026 — GE HealthCare and Springbok Analytics have entered a development agreement that will aim to leverage Springbok Analytics’ proprietary AI-powered analysis platform with GE HealthCare’s MRI technologies to reimagine how muscle health is quantified and visualized.
Currently, injury recovery and performance in sports are typically tracked through physical tests and functional assessments — external tests that offer incomplete insight into structural changes inside the body. MRI, however, can provide clearer views of muscle health and response to training or treatment. In combining AI‑powered muscle analysis with advanced MRI, this collaboration aims to bring more precise, quantitative, and actionable assessments of musculoskeletal health which can help to support future advances in sports medicine, human performance, and wellness.
Springbok Analytics’ AI-based solution converts rapid full body and regional MRI exam into detailed, interactive 3D maps of an individual’s musculoskeletal system. The technology quantifies up to 140 individual muscles depending on scan type and coverage area, delivering objective metrics such as muscle size, asymmetry, fat infiltration, bone, and adipose composition.
These insights are currently used by over 80 professional sports teams and human performance programs worldwide to help evaluate musculoskeletal health, guide rehabilitation, and optimize performance with greater precision. Springbok’s platform has established a new quantitative standard for muscle assessment across elite sports and human performance programs, and this collaboration aims to expand that capability within advanced MRI environments.
“The ability to look within the body and directly assess the structure and health of individual muscles has profound implications in clinical care and human performance,” said Silvia Blemker, PhD, CSO and Co-Founder of Springbok Analytics and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia. “Through our work with GE HealthCare, we are advancing musculoskeletal imaging capabilities in ways that will expand scientific reach and clinical impact for athletes, patients, and anyone seeking to preserve strength and mobility across the lifespan.”
When paired together, rapid MR imaging and deep learning-powered visualization have the potential to assess muscle asymmetries that may contribute to injury; track structural recovery in patients to determine a return-to-play plan; or monitor age-related changes in muscle composition – all with a goal of providing clinicians, physical therapists and performance specialists with clear, actionable information that yields results beyond either company’s technology alone.
“Our collaboration with Springbok enables us to combine their advanced AI-driven muscle analytics with GE HealthCare’s strengths in MRI acquisition and tissue characterization,” said Anja Brau, PhD, general manager of MR clinical solutions and research collaboration at GE HealthCare. “Together, we want to leverage the richness of MRI to reveal new insights into muscle quality, symmetry, and recovery, delivering tools optimized within GE HealthCare MRI platforms. This advancement of imaging technology for sports medicine, human performance, and human longevity supports our broader mission to deliver the future of healthcare.”
March 17, 2026 