If it's the week after Thanksgiving, the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America must be occurring at McCormick Place in Chicago. And so it is, with tens of thousands of imaging, IT and informatics professionals from more than 120 countries worldwide gathering from Dec. 1-5 to see new hardware and software up close and learn about new clinical innovations.

As it is everywhere else across healthcare, artificial intelligence is transforming the imaging profession, and a new KLAS study shows just how fast the changes are happening.

The research report, Imaging AI 2024, shows how the number of FDA-approved AI tools for imaging has ballooned to more than 300 in just the past few years, with little sign those approvals will slow. As the regulatory landscape has changed, so have attitudes about and adoption of new imaging AI platforms, operational and reporting automations and other AI tools.

"Just over 50% of surveyed organizations are starting to use AI algorithms for at least one imaging use case," KLAS notes, which is "a significant jump from 2018, when 17% of interviewed organizations were piloting or live with an AI solution."

To get a sense of all the many ways AI is changing the imaging and radiology landscape, KLAS researchers surveyed more than 200 organizations – about 25% of them imaging groups, and the rest U.S. health systems – to better understand which tools are finding favor in the "crowded market." Access the new imaging report here.

Meanwhile, here's just a small sampling of some of the imaging IT news being showcased in Chicago this week.

Agfa is showcasing its integration of CARPL.ai into AGFA Healthcare Enterprise Imaging platform, offering expanded flexibility and efficiency to radiologists. RUBEE for AI offers expanded access CARPL's marketplace of 140 applications, offers a unified platform that can help providers manage adoption of AI at scale and harness its value across clinical domains, the company says.

Aidoc announced its new CARE1 foundation model for CT imaging. It stands for Clinical AI Reasoning Engine, Version 1, and the company says it's the first step in a multi-year investment  its CARE framework, which was developed – trained on millions of exams – to help advance precision and speed in clinical AI: minimizing diagnostic delays, optimizing workflows and improving patient outcomes.

Fujifilm announced several new imaging systems RSNA, among other news, including a 1.5T MRI system with AI-powered workflow enhancements, an open 0.4T MRI system, a next-generation ultrasound system that use cognitive technology for deep tissue visualization, an all-in-one compact fluoroscopy C-arm and two digital radiography suites.

GE HealthCare, among other announcements at RSNA, is touting its new Pristina Via mammography system, which it designed to improve screening experience for patients and technologists alike. It offers imaging professionals a new suite of leading-edge tools that balance the demands of diagnostic accuracy and fast-paced workflows to facilitate more patient-centered breast care, according to GE, and could help streamline workflow efficiencies amid a global shortage of technologists.

Hyland is showcasing some of its own new advancements, including its Cloud Imaging SaaS tool, which combines clinical imaging content with multiple specialties for AI-enabled insights for clinical research, as well as NilShare, designed as a cost-effective image sharing approach that securely transfers imaging data without a VPN, eliminating the need for costly CD burning and ingesting.

Konica Minolta and Fovia are teaming up to offer the advanced visualization technology in Konica Minolta's cloud-based Exa PACS. The partnership is meant to offer customers leading 3D visualization and segmentation functionality that's secure, fast, flexible and scalable, the companies say. Offered via AWS cloud, the tools will provide flexibility for clinicians while offering significant advantages in cost management to healthcare organizations, they said.

Lunit, which develops technologies for cancer diagnostics and therapeutics, announced a new collaboration with AstraZeneca, to develop an AI-enabled digital pathology tool – Lunit SCOPE Genotype Predictor, which is capable of analyzing H&E slide images to predict the likelihood of the tumor harboring NSCLC driver mutations, such as Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor mutations, the companies said.

Siemens Healthineers, which also has an array of news at RSNA, recently enacted a 10-year $105 million partnership expansion that will see a new center for imaging excellence established at Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center. For more than 15 years, Healthineers and Siemens subsidiary Varian have provided most of the imaging equipment – MRI, CT, molecular imaging, X-ray, interventional radiology and radiation oncology – used at Wexner. The new center for excellence will see Siemens scientists working with clinical and research teams across the Ohio State to develop new imaging applications for different disease cases.

This is just a small sampling of the hundreds of announcements at RSNA this week. For a longer list, see here.