December 7, 2021 — Sirona Medical, a software company founded on a deep understanding of both the practice and business of radiology, announced the launch of its cloud-native radiology operating system (RadOS) at the 2021 Annual Meeting for Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). The unified workspace platform was developed based on the principle that technology, and AI in particular, should augment the intelligence of the physician. Through the unification of radiology’s core IT software components—the worklist, viewer, reporter, and AI—onto a single platform, radiologist workflow is simplified, resulting in a better user experience and work product.
In 2020, capital funding for companies developing medical imaging AI applications reached nearly $600 million, which was an increase of $142 million over the previous year ($450.2M), according to Signify Research. However, a recent study by the American College of Radiology found only 30% of radiologists have adopted AI in clinical practice. While most medical imaging professionals—80%, according to a 2020 survey—remain hopeful that AI will improve diagnostic imaging over the next 10 years, slow clinical implementation is largely a result of piecemeal innovations in radiology IT.
“Sirona’s unified RadOS platform is a critical first step in enabling the next iteration of AI in medicine,” said Gregory Nicola, M.D., Hackensack Radiology Group. “Existing radiology workflow technologies are siloed, outdated, and error-prone, creating tedious and unnecessary tasks for already overworked radiologists. An ergonomic and streamlined workspace will enable our radiologists to work faster, reduce burnout, and ultimately become more collaborative care partners to referring physicians and patients.”
Sirona Workspace integrates several novel features into radiologists’ workflow, simplifying their work and enabling increased attention to the patient image. These features include:
- Overlay Architecture and Integration: Radiologists are often required to use multiple platforms at once — many of which are disjointed, requiring complex integrations that can be brittle. As a cloud-native solution, Sirona Workspace can be deployed as an overlay to these disparate systems, unifying the physician workflow without requiring a rip-and-replace implementation. This addresses the critical need many large and complex radiology practices have for a universal and unified physician workflow.
- Ergonomic User Experience: Radiologists often have to swivel their heads back and forth between screens to ensure that the viewer and reporter are in sync. Through voice commands, integrated reporting activity in the viewing experience, and the first of the company’s Intelligence Amplification features, Anatomic Navigator, Sirona Workspace is designed to help the radiologist keep their eyes on the image.
- Improved Reporting: Through the use of Image Bookmarks, radiology reports become easier to understand for patients, referring physicians, and colleagues alike. Existing templates, both local and global, can be easily ported over into Workspace from other reporting systems, making implementation seamless.
- Future Proof Ecosystem: The Sirona Workspace is offered as a subscription service, meaning new innovations and capabilities are made available to users as soon as they’re ready. In conjunction with AI partners like RevealDx, customers will also be able to enjoy the latest AI features fully incorporated into their workflow.
“Sirona’s deep understanding of the practice and business of radiology provides immense value," said Jay Kaiser, president of California Advanced Imaging Medical Associates and medical director of National Orthopedic Imaging Associates. “Workspace will arm our radiologists with a multitude of robust micro-optimizations that allow us to spend less time dealing with technical impediments and more time with the patient image. Voice-enabled commands, for example, is something our practices have been wanting for years.”
“Radiology’s IT foundation is irreparably fragmented and broken,” said Cameron Andrews, founder and CEO of Sirona Medical. “IT teams and AI vendors alike have been forced to cater more to the IT systems than physician pain points. Having partnered with leading innovative radiology practices to develop the RadOS platform, we understand that the true inspiration for innovation comes from radiologists. Our focus is to continue building the novel features and functionalities that will amplify the value of the radiology profession and amplify the impact IT teams and AI vendors can have on the practice of radiology.”
For more information: www.sironamedical.com
April 23, 2024 
