Dear AuntMinnie Member,
It may sound crazy, but we'll throw it out there anyway -- a shortage of radiologists in the U.S. is looming, but technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) could help deal with the shortfall.
That's the suggestion of a provocative new column by Laurie Lafleur of Paragon Consulting Partners that we're highlighting today in our Artificial Intelligence Community. The idea flies in the face of conventional wisdom, which posits that AI is an existential threat to radiologists as computers take over the image interpretation duties once performed by humans.
Ms. Lafleur notes demographic trends in the U.S. that portend a smaller workforce, including the retirement of baby boomer radiologists and fewer residents entering the workforce. She also points to the U.K., where there is already a major imbalance between workload and workforce.
She believes that AI will help radiologists cope, while blockchain -- the cryptography technology behind bitcoin -- could make it easier for healthcare enterprises to share images safely and securely. Read more about Ms. Lafleur's intriguing ideas by clicking here.
While you're in the community, check out this article on an AI project conducted by Google engineers, who developed an algorithm for interpreting x-rays. And learn about a new partnership between two influential radiology organizations to foster the development of more useful AI algorithms.
Recall rates and interval cancers
Recall rates are usually considered one of the drawbacks -- commonly referred to as "harms" -- of breast screening. But a new study suggests there could be a silver lining to recalls.
Research published today in Radiology found that breast screening programs with recall rates that were too low had higher rates of interval cancers -- or cancers detected between rounds of screening. But the group also found that the relationship varied greatly depending on the age of the women being screened. Learn more by clicking here.
Also in our Women's Imaging Community is a new study that questions whether breast MRI is being used appropriately in the women who really need it. Get that story by clicking here, or visit the community at women.auntminnie.com.
NRU reactor shuts down
It's the end of an era in nuclear medicine, with the shutdown over the weekend of the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor in Canada. The NRU reactor for decades was a key linchpin in the supply of radioisotopes around the world, particularly in North America. But it was getting increasingly difficult to keep the aging reactor in operation, and frequent shutdowns led to interruptions in the supply of radiopharmaceuticals.
Fortunately, new sources of radioisotopes have come online, but the NRU reactor's shutdown does make one wonder if the industry's supply of radiotracers is as stable as it ought to be. Read more by clicking here, or visit our Molecular Imaging Community at molecular.auntminnie.com.
