ECR: Integrating AI into radiology workflows benefits the environment

Sustainability in the radiology department has been a hot topic at this year's ECR in Vienna, and a talk delivered on February 27 offered further evidence that there are effective measures to take to "green" radiology using AI technology.

Incorporating AI into a radiology department "allows [for] transformative changes not only of operational efficiencies and cost savings but improved sustainable practice," noted a team led by presenter Peter Strouhal, MD, of Alliance Medical in Wolverhampton, U.K.

At the ECR's opening ceremony, European Society of Radiology (ESR) President Andrea Rockall, MD, stressed that radiology needs to seek and execute practices that will ensure environmental sustainability, noting that "we need urgent change and we need everyone to play their part." Also this week, representatives from 11 radiology societies around the world issued a call to action to radiology leaders and societies to improve the environmental sustainability of the field.

Strouhal's presentation described one such action, taken by Alliance Medical, which provides diagnostic imaging for 800,000 National Health Service (NHS) patients in the U.K. each year. Increasing concern over operational and energy efficiencies in 2022 prompted the company to implement GE HealthCare's Imaging360 software, which tracks a department's operations. Strouhal and colleagues evaluated the effect of using Imaging360 AI algorithms on patient flows, scheduling, staffing, energy usage, and logistics management over an 18-month period. Imaging360 components the company used included HL7, DICOM, and business intelligence modules; data from mobile and static CT and MRI scanners were also incorporated from multiple sites across England.

Overall, the group reported that the use of AI algorithms in the company's operations cut missed appointments from 17% to 3% per week; slashed senior staff travel distance by approximately 380 km to 480 km per month; and reduced time needed to manage scanner protocols. It also increased scanner efficiency with no extra staff or equipment required:

• Throughput for MR imaging increased 33%, from 21 to 27 scans per day (+33%), and kilowatt hours (kWh) per patient decreased from 15.5 to 11.8 -- saving 3.7 kWh per exam, "enough to power 45 average households annually," the group noted.
• Throughput for CT imaging increased by 256 scans per month on average, "cutting idle time and reducing protocol variability for CT chest, abdomen, pelvis from 47 to 15 standardized protocols," the authors reported. Radiation doses decreased from 500 mGy.cm to 350 mGy.cm.

The findings suggest a way to address the issue of sustainability in imaging, according to Strouhal and colleagues.

"Going forward, further eco-friendly innovations could enhance both performance and sustainability across the healthcare imaging sector," they concluded.

Read AuntMinnieEurope.com's entire coverage of ECR 2025 on our RADCast.