New Artificial Intelligence Technique Dramatically Improves the Quality of Medical Imaging

Researchers have developed a new technique based on artificial intelligence and machine learning, which enable clinicians to acquire higher quality images without having to collect additional data. A radiologist's ability to make accurate diagnoses from high-quality diagnostic imaging studies directly impacts patient outcome. However, acquiring sufficient data to generate the best quality imaging comes at a cost - increased radiation dose for computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET) or uncomfortably long scan times for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Now researchers with the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have addressed this challenge with a new technique based on artificial intelligence and machine learning. They describe the technique - dubbed AUTOMAP (automated transform by manifold approximation) - in a paper published today in the journal Nature.