Subtle Medical Is Pushing the Envelope of AI, Which Has Hit the Mainstream at RSNA ‘23

Evolving AI-powered image acquisition capabilities and the workflow efficiencies that result are major topics of conversation at this year’s RSNA meeting—and Subtle Medical is right in the middle of them. With staffing shortages and burnout among major issues, radiologists’ futures depend on finding a long-term solution to bridge the gaps and make workflows more efficient, and ultimately patient-centered, according to Greg Zaharchuk, MD, PhD, professor of radiology at Stanford University and co-founder of Subtle Medical.

“As we’re leveraging the power of AI…one of the visions of the Subtle team in the long run is not so much to think about specific parts of acquisition, but to really think of the goal of focusing on workflow optimization at the point of acquisition. As we acquire the images, can we use AI computer vision to look at these images to decide, ‘Is this adequate?’” says Dr. Zaharchuk.

“It's a source of burnout—both for the technologists who may not understand all the things they have to do and for the radiologist who has to deal with the consequences of that downstream. We're very excited about the potential to truly optimize and orchestrate a complex workflow starting from acquisition, which benefits the technologists, radiologists, and patients by freeing up everybody to focus more on the patient and less so on all of the things that get in the way while you’re trying to do an imaging examination.”

At Subtle’s booth #4347, they are showcasing FDA-cleared solutions SubtleMR™ and SubtlePET™. SubtleMR acquires imaging rapidly to reduce scanning time and enable greater throughput.

“We’re continuing to innovate [with new architectures] to be best in class, and to provide a vendor-agnostic solution for people who may have multiple MR scanners,” Dr. Zaharchuk says.

SubtlePET can be used to reduce dose or reduce time on the scanner, depending on site needs. The solution has expanded to include more radiotracers for use in amyloid and tau imaging for dementia, making both workflow and dose increasingly important outside traditional usage areas like oncology.

SubtleSYNTH™, which Dr. Zaharchuk explains as an extension of SubtleMR, is a “100% speedup” augmentation. Using mutual information in certain sequences of MRIs, the technology synthesizes other sequences using a data-driven approach, essentially getting a “full exam” in a much shorter period of time. While the first entry is FDA-pending for spine imaging, Subtle sees this as a first synthesis product.

SubtleALLY™, currently visualized as an add-on to PET or MR, is built on the idea that efficiency isn’t just attributed to how fast you can scan, but to freeing up tasks from the technologist performing the exam or the radiologist interpreting it. The technology also has the potential to standardize sequence names and enable use of hanging protocols for additional radiologist efficiencies.

Outside of its booth, Subtle Medical will be part of the following AI discussions:

• Zaharchuk will be presenting at the AI Theater on Monday, Nov. 27 from 11:30-11:45 am on: “Elevating Efficiency through AI Excellence: A Look at Subtle Medical’s Newest Innovations That Tackle Complex Workflow Challenges and Improve Imaging Efficiency.”
• Suzie Bash, MD, will speak on Subtle’s behalf at the AI Theater on Sunday, Nov. 26 from 11-11:15 am on “Efficiency Unleashed: Discover Unrivaled Acceleration in Image Acquisition and the Latest Synthetic Imaging Innovation by Subtle Medical.”
• Ryan Chamberlain, Subtle’s head of R&D, will present at the Innovation Theater on Monday, Nov. 27 from 2-2:15 pm on Advancing Low-Dose Imaging Across Modalities: An In-Depth Look at Subtle Medical’s AI-Powered Innovations.
• And the largest session will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 28 from 12-1 pm for a Lunch & Learn with Dr. Zaharchuk, Lawrence Tanenbaum, MD, FACR; Catherine Keller, MD; and Kambiz Nael, MD, who will share their experiences in “Mastering Efficiency with AI Excellence: Subtle Medical’s Continuous Advancements in Imaging Acceleration and a Glimpse into New Workflow Innovations.”

In terms of partnerships, Subtle is collaborating with RSNA on RadLex for naming convention standardizations, as well as contrast agent manufacturers, Bayer and Bracco Diagnostics, in the area of reduced gadolinium.

“We’ve learned that some sites are very interested in the idea of better visualization of the contrast that they already have. Say that they inject a full dose of contrast, could we actually further enhance the relaxivity effects of those contrasts?” Dr. Zaharchuk asks. “This is a partnership that we have with Bracco…and we’re very excited about the idea of getting more out of images you’re already acquiring.”