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Digital Transformation of Radiology

Digital Transformation of Radiology
Shaping 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

Explore how the digital transformation brings the future within your reach.

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 that the COVID-19 pandemic 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.

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.

Currently, telemedicine, remote control, diagnostic recommendations based on big data and artificial intelligence, and medical apps are revealing their enormous benefits – greater productivity, faster availability, less administrative work and, of course, the spatial separation of physician and patient. We are undergoing a paradigm shift towards digital fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read about the impact of COVID-19 on radiology from Dr. Christoph Zindel, Member of the managing board of Siemens Healthineers.

Supporting radiologists in COVID-19 evaluation by applying Artificial Intelligence to images

AI-powered analysis of chest images has the potential to reduce the workload of radiologists. To help address the COVID-19 pandemic, we are providing AI algorithms for trial and clinical routine. The research prototype CT Pneumonia Analysis¹³ is designed to automatically identify and quantify abnormal patterns in the lung, which can be associated with COVID-19. Beyond research, the AI-Rad Companion Chest X-ray¹⁴ automatically characterizes radiographic findings for lung X-ray.

Magnetic Resonance (MR) images used to support physicians in detecting cardiac injury in patients

Recent studies in China and Italy^{18, 19, 20} have indicated that myocardial injury is common among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and is associated with a higher risk of in-hospital mortality.

Cardiac MRI can be useful to aid physicians detect and monitor cardiac injury (e.g. myocarditis).

X-ray systems support initial assessment of severity and monitoring

X-ray imaging is a relevant diagnostic modality for patients with COVID-19 disease, especially if the availability of other diagnostic methods becomes limited due to a rapid increase of infected patients. In many locations isolated areas are set up for the diagnosis and therapy of COVID-19 disease to manage the increased number of patients.
Multix Impact
MOBILETT Elara Max

Diagnosis of COVID-19 and the role of Computed Tomography

Our CT scanners have been deployed for COVID-19 since the initial build of the Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, with high resolution imaging enabled by SOMATOM go.Top facilitating both diagnosis and evaluation of disease.

CT images can help physicians differentiate between various types of infectious acquired diseases. In addition, our mobile CT workflow provides the capability for technologists to maintain a 1.5m (6 ft) distance from potentially infected patients.

Remote scanning assistance to ensure care continuity

Remote operations may help reduce staff exposure to infectious patients and may allow employees, who are under quarantine, to continue working. syngo Virtual Cockpit is a software for remote scanning assistance that enables your expert technologists to provide comprehensive scanning assistance to imaging personnel – regardless of their geographic location. Assistance can even be provided from home with a simple laptop.¹⁵

Molecular imaging hybrid devices support screening demands

Hybrid PET/CT and SPECT/CT provide CT imaging
Hybrid molecular imaging devices can be used as stand alone Computed Tomography (CT) systems to perform a full range of CT applications, including high-resolution lung imaging protocols. Hybrid imaging systems can thereby extend CT capacity during peak demand.

High resolution Computed Tomography
High-resolution Biograph™ PET/CT and Symbia™ SPECT/CT systems can be used as stand alone CTs to aid in characterizing of lung changes.¹⁶

Supporting staff and preserving critical time with teamplay digital health platform

The applications enabled by the teamplay digital health platform can help you connect and collaborate with peers beyond physical boundaries and leverage staff that is working in other locations, from home or even globally. Our own-developed and 3rd party applications run on the teamplay digital health platform and are easy-to-install, with low efforts while providing embeddedness with your current workflows. Our goal is to help you preserve critical time and support staff in fighting COVID-19.

Easily share medical images in a secured environment to improve diagnostic certainty with teamplay Images

teamplay Images is your starting point to share and receive images directly. teamplay Images¹⁷ provides you a secured environment to enable instant and easy image sharing on your laptop, PC or iPad for second opinions, to participate in research projects or to learn from peers.

This offering is currently being provided automatically free of charge for 90 days.

teamplay myCare Companion remote care management

A telehealth solution for care providers, teamplay myCare Companion helps to manage large numbers of patients smartly thanks to powerful workflow support.

Specifically while during times of COVID-19, home monitoring of quarantined patients can be an opportunity for health providers to avoid the hospitalization of patients who are infected but not in a critical state. This frees up valuable resources for those patients who suffer from a severe course of disease.

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

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Digital Transformation - What it means for radiology

Emerging trends and shifting market dynamics are likely to have a major impact on imaging departments worldwide in the years to come. 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.

Radiology departments are faced with a multitude of challenges today like staff shortages, increasing amounts of data, faster and precise diagnosis as well as innovative solutions. There is a need to meet these demands 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 imaging 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

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

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

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

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.

YSIO X.pree²¹ with myExam Companion – A leap forward in intelligent X-ray imaging

Equipped with next-generation intelligence and revolutionary myExam Companion, YSIO X.pree redefines how you perform thorax exams. Get consistent images with significantly less dose with its easy-to-use interface and smart image processing engine.

SOMATOM X.cite with myExam Companion

Our single source CT scanner SOMATOM® X.cite with myExam Companion allows users of any skill level to unlock the full potential of high-end technologies. It empowers users to reduce unwarranted variations – and generate consistent, comprehensive results.

SOMATOM On.site – Bringing critical care imaging to your patient

SOMATOM On.site⁷, a revolutionary, mobile head CT scanner, eliminates patient transports to the radiology department. This may help prevent related complications and allows staff to concentrate on providing optimal care for every patient on the ICU ward.

syngo Virtual Cockpit

Move knowledge, not staff with syngo Virtual Cockpit⁸. Re-think the way you work as team and increase workforce productivity: it is a remote scanning assistance that makes your experts’ knowledge accessible across sites in real time.

AI-Rad Companion

The AI-Rad Companion, our family of AI-powered, cloud based augmented workflow automation solutions help you to reduce the burden of basic repetitive tasks and may increase your diagnostic precision when interpreting medical images.

MR Fingerprinting (MRF)

MRF ^9,10 uses quantitative information to generate a more precise understanding of a patient’s condition. Ultimately, it offers enormous potential to improve tissue differentiation and enable less invasive diagnostics, leading to more personalized treatments.

AI-Pathway Companion

Leveraging data integration and artificial intelligence technology, the solution AI-Pathway Companion¹¹ with its applications aims to support your multidisciplinary physician

teamplay Insights

With teamplay Insights¹² you get broad access to your radiology department data. Create flexible, personalized data visualization sheets boards for both a monitoring view of your radiology department as well as for a deep dive analysis in specific use cases.

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. Two key trends in radiology that we already see today and believe will be extremely relevant in the times to come are remote service and AI-driven solutions.

Healthcare will increasingly be more broadly provided through remote services, not only to reduce the risk of infectious diseases like COVID-19 or to be more efficient, but also making it more convenient for the patient. AI is already contributing significantly to radiology and with new innovations, it will 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 that 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.

Will AI take over imaging and replace radiologists?

AI is no doubt a hotly discussed topic today. Over the years, it has been gradually integrated into radiology in several different ways. It is a valuable tool that, when combined with the human expertise of radiologists and clinicians, offers vast potential to the healthcare industry.

Therefore, AI will not reduce the need for imaging but will reduce the burden of doing basic repetitive tasks and may potentially decrease the need for specialization in image interpretation. AI can help make it easier to interpret imaging findings for radiologists (and other medical personnel) with different levels of expertise, – something that could, incidentally, be extremely helpful in pandemics, where there is an incredibly high number of patients that need healthcare services in a short period of time.

Thanks to digitalization and the increasing use of AI, there could be less routine reporting which would enable radiologists to spend more time with patients and focus on complex cases. With the help of AI, radiologists could also save time on operating diagnostic machines and focus on collaborating with other disciplines. This could contribute to radiology becoming more interventional, combining diagnostic information with more personalized, image-guided therapy.

In short: Within the healthcare system, radiologists will be the catalysts of the digital and personalized medicine transformation. AI will not replace radiologists but help to stay at the pulse of medicine and innovation and drive change across disciplines for the benefit of patients.

AI COVID-19: Joint effort towards precision medicine

Hear it from the thought leaders in Healthcare

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Dr. Bernd Montag, CEO Siemens Healthineers

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¹The products/features (here mentioned) 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.

²This product/feature is based on research. It is not yet commercially available. Due to regulatory reasons its future availability cannot be guaranteed.

³Not for clinical use.

⁴syngo.via can be used as a standalone device or together with a variety of syngo.via-based software options, which are medical devices in their own right. syngo.via and the syngo.via based software options are not commercially available in all countries. Due to regulatory reasons its future availability cannot be guaranteed. Please contact your local Siemens Healthineers organization for further details.

⁵Powered by Transpara^TM, ScreenPoint Medical. syngo.Breast Care VB 40 are currently under development; are not for sale in the U.S. Their future availability cannot be guaranteed. Not all options are commercially available in all countries. Due to regulatory reasons its future availability cannot be guaranteed.

⁶Courtesy of Klinikum Nürnberg, Nuremberg, Germany,
AI-Rad Companion Engine has received 510k clearance. The Pulmonary and Cardiovascular extensions are 510(k) pending, and not yet commercially available in the United States. The musculoskeletal extension is work in progress, not commercially available, and its future availability cannot be ensured. Not for distribution or use in the U.S. The products/features (here mentioned) are not commercially available in all countries. Please contact your local Siemens Healthineers organization for further details.

⁷SOMATOM On.site is under development and not commercially available. Its future availability cannot be ensured.

⁸syngo 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.

⁹Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting is currently under development and not commercially available. It is not for sale in the US or other countries. Its future availability cannot be guaranteed.

¹⁰The option is pending 510(k) clearance, and is not yet commercially available in the United States. Its future availability cannot be guaranteed.

¹¹The products/features (mentioned herein) are not commercially available in all countries. Their future availability cannot be guaranteed.

¹²teamplay 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.

¹³For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

¹⁴AI-Rad Companion Chest X-ray is currently not for sales in the United States and other selected countries.

¹⁵A secure VPN connection to the department network is required. Other appropriately trained personnel must be in the room to care for patient, position the patient, and manually start the scan.

¹⁶Note: Symbia T and Intevo Excel are not indicated for use as a Standalone CT

¹⁷Due to regulations data exchange between data center regions is restricted. The products/features/service offerings are not commercially available in all countries. If the services are not marketed in countries due to regulatory or other reasons, the service offering cannot be guaranteed. Please contact your local Siemens organization for further details.

¹⁸Shi S, Qin M, Shen B, et al. Association of Cardiac Injury With Mortality in Hospitalized Patients With COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. JAMA Cardiol. Published online March 25, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2020.0950

¹⁹Guo T, Fan Y, Chen M, et al. Cardiovascular Implications of Fatal Outcomes of Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). JAMA Cardiol. Published online March 27, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2020.1017

²⁰Inciardi RM, Lupi L, Zaccone G, et al. Cardiac Involvement in a Patient With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). JAMA Cardiol. Published online March 27, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2020.1096

²¹YSIO 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.

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