Do contrast media companies have the inside track on AI for radiology?
In the race to implement artificial intelligence (AI) in radiology, do contrast media companies have the inside track? It’s a prospect that would have seemed unlikely just a couple years ago, but with recent developments it’s becoming increasingly possible.
This week saw the news that pharmaceutical giant 拜耳 would be acquiring Blackford , a developer of AI software based in Scotland. Blackford was one of the first companies to advocate a platform-based approach to AI, with its Blackford Platform creating an environment from which AI algorithms can be easily deployed and used by radiologists.
The week before, another competitor in the contrast space, Guerbet , announced that it had acquired a 39% stake in French software developer Intrasense , and it has the intention of purchasing 100% of the company in the near future. In November 2022, Guerbet took over the AI algorithms that it had been working on with IBM Watson, which after a private equity buyout evolved into Merative .?
Meanwhile, GE医疗 – which is both a scanner manufacturer and a contrast developer – has its Edison Digital Health Platform, which it touts as a “vendor-agnostic hosting and data aggregation platform with an integrated artificial intelligence (AI) engine.” The company plans to leverage Edison to help it deploy AI applications developed both by GE and by third-party companies.
Finally, Italian contrast company Bracco has stated that AI is a key piece of its future. The company in May 2022 launched the Algents project to manage its activities in AI, such as a project to develop AI algorithms to analyze chest x-rays and predict clinical outcomes of patients with COVID-19.?
A bit puzzling?
At first blush, the interest that contrast firms are showing in AI seems a bit puzzling. As pharmaceutical developers, contrast companies must deal with a more stringent level of regulation for their products than medical device vendors or software developers. This tends to make the contrast companies more conservative and risk-averse, a stark contrast to the start-up mentality that’s pervasive among AI developers.?
Also, contrast agents and AI software are dramatically different animals, with different skill sets required for R&D, commercialization, and sales and marketing.
But as the AI market matures, it’s becoming evident that artificial intelligence could be a natural fit for contrast providers – and that they could have an advantage in the long run over scanner vendors or pure-play software developers in the race to gain market share in AI.?
At its most basic, medical imaging contrast is a consumable product. That means that contrast companies are in touch with their customers early and often. And many have already been expanding into the software realm through contrast management applications that give radiology facilities a better handle on their use of contrast media.?
Such applications could serve as a beachhead from which contrast firms can expand to offer additional software and services based on AI. It’s easy to visualize, for example, a site that’s using a vendor’s software to manage their contrast use to add on additional modules – perhaps based on AI – that offer new functionality such as scanner management, monitoring technologist productivity, and the like.?
Contrast companies also are large entities that have stable revenue and profit streams. These funds can be tapped for either in-house software development or acquisitions such as what we’ve seen over the past few weeks.
So this week’s news could be a portent of things to come. We may see more contrast vendors partnering with and even acquiring AI developers as part of an initiative to get a bigger piece of the fastest-growing market in radiology.
Stay tuned!
Brian Casey, Editorial Director, Casey Insights
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Sales Engineer, Roche
1 年I get the Edison link but I don’t see how contrast companies add value over and above frequent customer contact, enabling them to keep an ear to the ground thereby spotting investment opportunities. However an algorithm specifically designed to work with eg biphasic CT scans- I can see that attracting venture capital from a consortium of contrast companies. Maybe.
The AI-guy, Assisting in AI technology deployment, entrepreneur, expert trainer/consultant on PACS, interoperability, standards.
1 年We have seen other giants wanting to get into the healthcare software and AI business before, notably Microsoft, AWS, Google with mixed results. Imaging is quite different than contrast management. So I'd say the proof is in the pudding....
Cardiac & Thoracic Radiologist | Diplomate, Cardiac MRI, CT
1 年Brian Casey it’s very interesting and TBH enigmatic at first blush. Your comment “It’s easy to visualize, for example, a site that’s using a vendor’s software to manage their contrast use to add on additional modules – perhaps based on AI – that offer new functionality such as scanner management, monitoring technologist productivity, and the like.” Your own thoughts or based on actionable pathways laid out by some of the vendors. So intriguing. Thanks for the reporting. ????
Herausgeber von Radiologie Magazin und DI Europe | Trends in Management und Technik
1 年Hi Brian, very good analysis, you can always see that AI start-ups start very late in taking care of customers. Sometimes problems are solved that don't even exist. The big players simply have the advantage that they are at the customer's site day after day. I assume that the AI market will consolidate very quickly.