Increasing Presence of AI at RSNA Reflects Emphasis on Efficiency

Artificial intelligence (AI) sizzled at the Radiological Society of North America's (RSNA) 2018 meeting as vendors promoted new, old and unconventional technologies as means to increase efficiency throughout imaging. New releases were unveiled in imaging modalities, notably magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT). But excitement was muted compared to enthusiasm for AI, which has been high for two years. Interest in AI was stoked by multiple medical societies at their annual meetings in the weeks leading up to RSNA 2018. The Radiological Society of North America contributed further through its decision to set up a machine learning showcase in the back of the North exhibit hall. Enthusiasm for enterprise imaging (EI) increased with the vendor promotion of AI software that promised to streamline workflow. This "coattail effect" was seen in multimodality exhibits including those of GE, Siemens, Philips and Canon, which promoted the use of AI not just to improve scanners, but to boost the performance of picture archive and communication systems (PACS) and vendor neutral archives (VNA) as well.