Dear AuntMinnie Member,
The issue of reactions to COVID-19 vaccines continues to be a major political football during the pandemic. Although such reactions are extremely rare, they have perhaps taken on outsize importance due to ongoing vaccine skepticism and hesitancy.
This past week, our top story was a research study on cases of myocarditis that occurred after COVID-19 vaccination. Although from a population of 192.4 million people who got vaccinated, just 1,626 experienced myocarditis, cardiac MRI scans were abnormal in 72% of that latter group, indicating the ability of the modality to detect the condition.
And in an intriguing functional MRI story, researchers found that individuals who experienced racial discrimination had activation in areas of the brain that commonly deal with threats.
Get these stories and more in our MRI Community.
More consolidation in AI
Last week, information technology giant IBM announced it had found a buyer for assets in its Watson Health business. This past week, consolidation in the artificial intelligence (AI) space took another turn, as two Dutch AI developers were snapped up by imaging services provider RadNet.
RadNet acquired Aidence and Quibim, and it intends to use algorithms the companies have developed to improve the ability of its radiologists to detect and diagnose prostate, brain, and lung diseases. RadNet already uses AI for breast imaging.
Are the deals unrelated? Or do they indicate that the highly fragmented AI space is undergoing consolidation? Time will tell.
AI webinar on February 10
While we're on the subject of AI, be sure to join us on February 10 for the next event in our AI Trends in 2022 series of webinars. This event will focus on AI for neuroradiology, and we've lined up a stellar panel of key opinion leaders as speakers, including Dr. Marion Smits, Dr. Alexander Radbruch, and Dr. Peter Chang. Registration is free.
