Population health is absolutely something we want to target. To do that, we are using our archive of images that includes radiology, cardiovascular, interoperative and dermatology. For example, we’re looking at body composition—the amount of muscle, visceral fat and superficial fat. And common sense makes sense. Body composition correlates with how well patients do. In some cases, abdominal fat can even be an early biomarker of some cancers, like pancreatic cancer.

When it comes to teaching new dogs new tricks, radiology training programs need to be thinking about updating their curricula and preparing for both the short- and the long-term effects of AI and machine learning, according to “Toward Augmented Radiologists,” a new commentary published online in March in Academic Radiology.

Ever the visionary, Paul Chang sees AI as an asset to radiologists. As he sees it, “AI and deep learning doesn’t replace us. It frees us to do more valuable work.” The vice chair of radiology informatics at University of Chicago Medicine takes a quick look through the crystal ball at the four stand-out challenges facing radiology with the rise of AI.

To look into the future is to catch only a glimpse inside Simon Warfield’s radiology research lab at Boston Children’s Hospital. His team is pairing hyperfast imaging and deep learning to push the limits of medical imaging and artificial intelligence (AI) to identify, prevent and treat disease. He’s also eyeing ways AI will help as data sharing expands among research sites. “The research world needs to look forward to manage forward,” he says.

AI is hotter than hot in healthcare, according to AI market watcher CB Insights. Healthcare-AI funding reached $2.14 billion across 323 deals from 2012 through the second quarter of 2017—and has consistently been the top industry for AI deals.

(Spoiler alert: It’s a 69-page report that indicates the use of AI in healthcare is both promising and doable.)

When it comes to AI and machine learning, the regulatory trail has been blazed and the approval gates through open. The FDA has approved a couple dozen apps over the last year and a half—and the momentum is clearly building with Scott Gottlieb at the agency’s helm and recent moves to ramp up staffing to meet the demand.  

Lawrence Tanenbaum is a big believer in AI, as a tool to create better images, offer a more comprehensive view of a patient and more effectively handle imaging’s increasing volume and complexity. Bigger yet, AI is the impetus to change the way radiology and medicine are practiced across the care spectrum.