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Digital Transformation of RadiologyShaping data-driven decisions in imaging, improving patient care

Every day you make hundreds of decisions impacting the well-being of your patients. This is becoming more and more challenging with the ever-growing amount of data. To overcome this, we drive the digital transformation of imaging to improve patient care and to provide better outcomes with increased efficiency. The digital transformation of radiology is centered around three themes:

  • Intelligent Imaging to gather high-quality data while using the full potential of the systems
  • AI-powered Clinical Decisions to guide decision making along the patient journey
  • Streamlined Operations to increase productivity and optimize asset utilization

Digital Transformation - What it means for radiology

Radiology departments are faced with a multitude of challenges today like staff shortages, increasing amounts of data as well as the need for faster and precise diagnosis as well as innovative solutions. These demands need to be met effectively and efficiently.


This is where digital solutions can play an increasingly vital part in transforming radiology. Using digital technologies to turn large amounts of data into insights will support more precise diagnosis, targeted treatment, and greater patient satisfaction. With a strong focus and dedicated efforts towards intelligent imaging, AI-powered clinical decisions and streamlined operations, radiology departments can facilitate better outcomes for patients and increased efficiency for radiologists, to ultimately enable improved patient care.

Watch the video to explore how the digital transformation of radiology has the potential to shape the future of healthcare for all of us.

    In this video, you saw what the digital transformation of radiology stands for, and you learned about the three key focus areas to help you make better informed patient-centric decisions. Let us dive a little deeper to understand these three cornerstones and their relevance and impact:

    Intelligent imaging

    Intelligent imaging

    Innovation is central to assist in data acquisition. Intelligent solutions enable you to generate accurate data and faster image interpretation, thereby creating actionable insights. Trendsetting modality innovations empower you to achieve high quality imaging and data interpretation. Often technology isn’t used to its full potential because either the user or the technology is new, or it is a rare exam. The possibilities of digitalization help users efficiently achieve reproducible results - by unlocking the full potential of their medical imaging devices. It guides operators through imaging procedures, so that they can interact easily and naturally with both patient and technology. This has been made possible by myExam Companion that launches this new era of intelligent imaging that works with you to efficiently operate modalities. No matter the user, patient or throughput, it helps generate consistent, comprehensive results with reduced dose.

    AI-powered clinical decisions

    AI-powered clinical decisions

    One of the most pressing concerns in radiology today is the exponential growth of data and the shortage of medical staff to handle this complex and ever-increasing amount of data. Intelligent solutions support radiologists in making better informed clinical decisions and adding value along the patient journey. Through superior integration and interpretation of data and creation of actionable insights, AI-powered solutions pave the way for shaping clinical decisions in radiology and assist radiologists and clinicians in making the right decision for every patient.

    Streamlined operations

    Streamlined operations

    Along with staff shortages, radiology and imaging departments worldwide are faced with additional pressures like increasing workload. Digitalization can unlock a whole new level of operational performance as well as hidden potential for improvements, helping you operate more efficiently. Digital solutions like remote scanning software, customized dashboards to track targets and KPIs, and digital platforms that enable data-driven decisions along the entire patient pathway can empower you to simplify operations and create smart workflows to help reduce the workload and boost workforce productivity. With innovative solutions that optimize asset utilization and help increase efficiency, you can dedicate more time and focus on providing best possible patient care.

    At Siemens Healthineers, we focus on these three areas to support you with the challenges of today and tomorrow. So let’s explore our offerings across these three themes.

    myExam Companion - Intelligence that works with you

    myExam Companion - Intelligence that works with you

    Using the new possibilities of digitalization, it turns data into built-in expertise. myExam Companion guides operators through CT scan and radiography procedures, so that they can interact easily and naturally with both patient and technology.

      Future of radiology

      What will the future of imaging look like?

      Technology has opened doors to improve and support healthcare and we believe radiology has a major role to play in making medicine more precise and shaping care delivery. Innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and automation are crucial enablers for expanding precision medicine, transforming care delivery, and improving patient experience at your institution. 

      Watch the video to see how emerging trends and shifting market dynamics are likely to have a major impact on imaging departments worldwide in the years to come.

      How can we transform care delivery? 

      Today’s healthcare delivery is fragmented, and payment models often incentivize volume rather than outcomes. To ensure value, care needs to be organized around a patient’s medical conditions. Therefore, improving access to care and making it revolve around the patient is imperative and will see an increased focus going forward. There are three key aspects to this – Making care affordable, accessible and available. 
      AI is already contributing significantly to radiology and with new innovations,

      Patients around the world need to have access to high quality solutions that are affordable. But care delivery also needs to be accessible. And for this, we need to expand the reach with pathbreaking technologies, intelligent solutions and simplified infrastructure. Finally, bringing convenient ways to deliver care is crucial for improving access to care. Healthcare will increasingly be more broadly provided through remote services, not only to respond to the demands of infectious diseases like COVID-19, but also to make healthcare in general more efficient and convenient for patients. New approaches allow healthcare professionals to remotely interact with patients along the entire patient pathway from monitoring, to diagnosis, to therapy. In addition, remote services connect healthcare professionals to make expertise accessible and enable collaborative decision-making.

      Will AI take over imaging and replace radiologists?

      Over the years, AI has been gradually integrated into radiology in several different ways and is no doubt a hotly discussed topic today. It is a valuable tool that, when combined with the human expertise of radiologists and clinicians, offers vast potential to the healthcare industry and could revolutionize clinical workflows. In the long term, with AI-assisted image analysis improving by the day, radiology as we traditionally know it will cease to exist. This doesn’t mean it will go away, instead it will be significantly different, and at the same time more important than ever. It will help to center and integrate data from various sources (e.g., Pathology, Lab, Genetics, Imaging) in order to best navigate and stratify patients for their personalized therapy. 

      AI

      Therefore, AI will not replace radiologists, rather help them become more accurate and efficient. Dr. Christoph Zindel, Member of the managing board of Siemens Healthineers, explains how increased use of digital technologies would enable radiologists to focus on complex cases and spend more time with patients. According to him, AI will assist with the interpretation of imaging findings and help reduce the burden of basic repetitive tasks. By helping radiologists save time on operating diagnostic machines, AI-powered solutions will also allow them to focus on collaborating with other disciplines, thereby helping radiology embrace innovation and drive change across disciplines for the benefit of patients.

      Get insight on AI COVID-19 - Joint efforts towards precision medicine

      Remote work for healthcare professionals: From a stop gap measure to a lasting transformation

      COVID-19: What we can learn from the pandemic

      The COVID-19 pandemic has been so deeply impactful that it has changed the lives and the way of thinking for all of us in a very short time. We believe it has the potential to significantly change the radiology and healthcare system: In particular, it might serve as a catalyst in developing more effective, efficient and, above all, more humane medicine.

      covid-19

      Digital will be the “new normal”

      The inclusion of radiological findings in confirming the COVID-19 diagnosis of a patient has significantly increased the workload of radiologists. More and more cases must be read, annotated and prioritized. AI-powered analysis of radiological images has the potential to reduce this growing burden on radiologists, speed up their reading time and accuracy.

      We are fully committed to supporting our partners in the healthcare system to provide the best possible care for their patients.
      Find out information including disinfection recommendations for imaging scanners by clicking below.

      Siemens Healthineers Innovation Talks

      Join the discussions about the future of radiology and therapy

      From Siemens Healthineers Shape 21 Forum to our RSNA experience: Get the latest insights about clinical conditions, innovation highlights, access to remote care and various other topics that are shaping healthcare. Explore the full list of topics to register for the talks you would like to attend and get the opportunity to engage with healthcare professionals and experts.

        News & Stories about radiology and nuclear medicine

        Artificial intelligence as an analysis support for lung diseases

         2020-10-01

        Early detection and diagnosis can be lifesavers, especially in the current COVID-19 pandemic. Sebastian Schmidt, MD, from Siemens Healthineers explains how artificial intelligence can be used for the diagnosis and treatment of lung diseases and how a new research algorithm aims to improve lung cancer screening. Read the full interview here.

         

        Siemens Healthineers presented the latest innovations in radiology at virtual ECR 2020
        Virtual ECR 2020: Shaping the future of healthcare

         2020-07-27

        At this year´s first virtual ECR, from July 15 to 19, Siemens Healthineers presented the latest innovations in radiology: From symposia, live discussions and demonstrations to personal expert meetings, there were many opportunities to discover our imaging technologies, digital health and connected digital interventional solutions.

        News
        Artificial intelligence is already transforming precision medicine.
        Philipp Grätzel von Grätz
        Algorithms: All Set to Shape Tomorrow’s Medicine

         2019-07-23

        Across all medical disciplines, artificial intelligence and machine learning will transform medicine beyond most people’s imagination. Algorithms that help evaluate radiological images are just the beginning. AI could become an indispensable tool in all branches of medicine.

        Customer Experience
        Radiology technologists at University Hospital in Essen can now operate up to three scanners at the same time thanks to a remote scanning concept.
        Helen Baer
        How a Virtual Scanning Cockpit Helps to Deploy Specialist Knowledge Precisely Where it is Needed

         2019-06-07

        In the future, the growing need for radiological specialists could lead to more frequent bottlenecks. Now, thanks to the introduction of software to support remote scanning, radiology technologists at Essen University Hospital can operate up to three scanners at the same time regardless of their location.

        Customer Experience
        Read this clinical case series about pediatric GOBrian-5-Minute-Protocol MR Imaging.
        Courtesy: Elka Miller, M.D., FRCPC¹; Barry Smith, MRT (MR)², Medical Imaging Department, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), Ottawa, ON, Canada
        Case Series: Pediatric GOBrain-5-Minute Protocol MR Imaging at 3 Tesla

         2019-04-02

        Fast MRI sequences can avoid the need for sedation or anesthesia, and are thus particularly useful for young and uncooperative patients. Read more in this case series.

        Clinical Results
        1YSIO X.pree, myExam Collimate, myExam 3D Camera, myExam IQ, Auto Thorax Collimation, Virtual Collimation, and Smart Virtual Ortho are pending 510(k) clearance, and are not yet commercially available in the United States and other countries. Their future availability cannot be guaranteed. Please contact your local Siemens Healthineers organization for further details.
        2The product is pending 510(k) clearance, and is not yet commercially available in the United States or other countries. This product does not yet fulfill all the essential requirements according to the European Medical Device Directive (93/42/EEC) and its national implementations neither all applicable General Safety and Performance Requirements according to the European Medical Device Regulation 2017/745. It is not yet commercially available in the European Union.
        3syngo Virtual Cockpit isn't commercially available in all countries. For regulatory reasons, its future availability can't be guaranteed. Precondition: Expert-i enabled modality from Siemens Healthineers.
        4Several devices of AI-Rad Companion are planned and under development, not commercially available in all countries, and their future availability cannot be ensured. Please contact your local Siemens Healthineers organization for further details.
        5The products/features (mentioned herein) are not commercially available in the United States or other countries. Their future availability cannot be guaranteed.
        6

        AI-Pathway Companion applications are not commercially available in all countries. Their future availability cannot be guaranteed. 

        7

        teamplay products are not commercially available in all countries. Due to regulatory reasons their future availability cannot be guaranteed.

        Please contact your local Siemens Healthineers organization for further details.