Imaging Technology News

UAMS Debuts Mobile Lung Cancer Screening Fleet

tim.hodson — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 16:28:38 +0000

tim.hodson Fri, 10/23/2026 - 11:28

Oct. 23, 2026 — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute recently announced the arrival of Arkansas’ first lung cancer screening vans and the launch of a statewide effort to reduce the state’s leading cause of cancer death.

Lung cancer causes approximately 2,000 deaths each year in Arkansas, which far exceeds the national average. The state ranks fifth in the nation for lung cancer mortality and third for cigarette smoking. Smoking causes nearly 90% of all lung cancers, according to the Arkansas Department of Health, with the heaviest burden falling on rural and medically underserved communities.

“Arkansas has some of the highest lung cancer rates in the country with far too many families losing loved ones to a disease that is survivable when detected early,” said Michael Birrer, M.D., Ph.D., vice chancellor of UAMS and director of the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. “These mobile screening units will fundamentally change access to cancer care by taking lifesaving screening directly to the communities that need it most.”

Thanks to a $4 million appropriation administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration and championed by U.S. Sen. John Boozman, the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute has deployed two of three new state-of-the-art mobile lung screening coaches, with the third to follow shortly.

“It was an honor to secure this funding for resources that will expand access to lifesaving lung cancer screening across our state. UAMS is a great partner in bringing quality care to more Arkansans, especially those in more rural communities, and this mobile cancer screening capability will result in increased early detection and better outcomes,” said Boozman.

“By bringing these units to where people live and work, we are removing some of the biggest barriers to screening — transportation, time, and cost,” said UAMS Chancellor C. Lowry Barnes, M.D. “This effort reflects our commitment to rural health.”

Each coach is equipped with a Philips Incisive CT 5100 scanner, providing high-quality imaging at low-radiation doses. The units operate with advanced battery and solar-power systems and are designed for safe, efficient mobile use in rural communities.

Expanding Access to Lung Screening

“Expanding access to care is a shared priority for UAMS and Philips, especially for people in rural communities who may live far from a hospital or imaging center,” said Brian Murphy, vice president, head of imaging, North America, Philips. “By equipping these mobile units with Philips CT systems, the program will help make CT screening services available in more rural communities across Arkansas. We are pleased to support UAMS in expanding access to these services.”

Each coach is equipped with a Philips Incisive CT 5100 scanner, providing high-quality imaging at low-radiation doses.

Patients screened through the program will also receive tobacco cessation counseling and resources, which recent studies show can increase quit-success rates by 40% when continued for at least three months. Low-dose CT screening itself has been shown to reduce lung cancer mortality by 20%.

Eligibility determination, insurance verification, and follow-up care are coordinated by Cancer Institute employees to ensure patients receive timely diagnostic support when needed. Under Act 390, an Arkansas law that went into effect Jan. 1, Medicaid and commercial insurance plans are required to cover lung cancer screenings for eligible individuals.

Screening is recommended for: adults ages 50 to 80 years, current smokers or former smokers who have quit within the past 15 years, adults with a smoking history of at least 20 pack-years (one pack a day for 20 years, two packs a day for 10 years, etc.), and adults with a family history of lung cancer, exposure to radon or asbestos, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

Statewide maps of lung cancer incidence and mortality will guide the deployment of the vans so that the highest-need areas of the state receive priority outreach. The Cancer Institute will measure statewide impact by tracking screening participation rates, early-stage detection rates and reductions in late-state diagnoses.

Jeff Pasquale, CEO of USA Mobile Medical said, “We are proud to partner with UAMS on this groundbreaking initiative to support their mission of meeting patients where they are and ensuring access to lifesaving lung cancer screening directly to the communities throughout the state of Arkansas that need it the most.”

For more than 16 years, the UAMS MammoVan has provided breast cancer screenings across the state. To further expand access to care, UAMS has launched a second MammoVan with plans to deploy a third, creating more opportunities for patients to access life-saving cancer screenings closer to home.

When fully implemented, the Cancer Institute’s mobile cancer screening fleet will include six vans, making it the largest in the United States.

Friday, October 23, 2026 - 11:28

HL7 vs. FHIR: The Interoperability Decision Every Imaging Operation Is Facing

tim.hodson — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 19:13:28 +0000

Integration protocol has become an operational and compliance question. It is no longer just an IT footnote.

The right integration strategy depends on an organization's existing environment, interoperability requirements, growth plans, and future technology priorities — not on which standard sounds newer.

HL7 v2 runs your operational core. FHIR is reshaping patient access, AI, and cross-org exchange. Most imaging organizations will need both, for years.

Learn how you can plan for it and how to test any vendor's interoperability claims.

Click the link below to download.

tim.hodson Thu, 10/22/2026 - 14:13

RamSoft E-book -HL7 vs FHIR-ITN.pdf 7mb_0.pdf6.66 MB

Researchers Study MRI Brain Scans to Determine Brain Function Across Mental Illnesses

tim.hodson — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 18:12:47 +0000

tim.hodson Thu, 10/22/2026 - 13:12

Oct. 22, 2026 — Researchers from the Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute (Stevens INI) at the Keck School of Medicine of USC will lead a worldwide effort to map how eight common psychiatric disorders affect brain function, supported by a five-year, $3.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

The Global Initiative for Harmonized Functional MRI in Psychiatry will analyze over 94,000 brain scans collected at 257 research sites in 27 countries, from participants ages 4 to 95. The project covers schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, and anorexia nervosa. The investigators say it will be the largest functional MRI study ever conducted, both in the number of people scanned and the number of labs taking part.

“Each of these conditions has been studied mostly on its own, with each group using its own tools,” said Paul M. Thompson, PhD, associate director of the Stevens INI, director of the ENIGMA Consortium, and principal investigator of the project. “When every lab processes its scans the same way, we can finally discover which brain abnormalities are shared across disorders and which are specific. Our new global effort will have enormous power to identify brain signatures that are the most sensitive to each illness, to help us target treatments and predict treatment response.”

MRI Reading the Brain at Rest

The project relies on resting-state functional MRI, which records brain activity while a person lies quietly in a scanner. The scan tracks small shifts in blood oxygen that rise and fall as brain regions work. When two regions rise and fall in step, like musicians keeping time in an orchestra, researchers consider them functionally connected. Recent work has discovered functional networks involved in attention, rumination, and planning, with a complex pattern of switching and interactions between them that is disturbed in mental illness.

Smaller studies have reported differences in these connection patterns in people with psychiatric conditions, but results have been hard to compare. Labs use different scanners and different analysis steps, and a single study rarely includes enough people to detect subtle effects.

“There is broad agreement that many of the conditions we study in psychiatry share common roots in the brain, yet research on each condition still happens largely in isolation, partly because comparing many diagnoses at once on a large scale is so difficult,” said Frank Hillary, PhD, professor of psychology and neurology at The Pennsylvania State University. “One critical goal of this project is to develop shared methods for studying how brain networks function, so that different areas of psychiatry can be examined side by side to better understand their similarities and differences.”

One Method, Eight Disorders

The effort expands the ENIGMA Consortium, a global network of over 2,500 scientists in 47 countries who conduct some of the largest brain imaging studies of neurological and psychiatric disease. For this project, eight separate international research groups, each focused on one disorder, have agreed to analyze their functional scans with the same standardized processing pipeline, a shared set of software steps that cleans each scan and measures brain connections and dynamic brain changes identically. According to the investigators, it is the first global effort to standardize how functional brain scans are analyzed in psychiatry.

“Until now, a finding in autism and a finding in schizophrenia could come from very different analysis choices, so we couldn’t line them up fairly,” said Clara Moreau, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry at the Université de Montréal and co-chair of the ENIGMA functional MRI working group. “Agreeing on a targeted multiverse approach, which is used across the world and across disorders, lets us identify distinctive features of these conditions for the first time.”

The size of the combined dataset also opens the door to artificial intelligence methods, which need large amounts of data to learn reliable patterns. The team plans to use these tools to search for markers of illness too subtle for smaller studies to detect.

How Disorders Group Together

Earlier genetic studies suggest these conditions may fall into three families: mood and psychotic disorders, developmental disorders, and compulsive disorders. The researchers will test whether brain function shows the same grouping, which could point to shared biology beneath conditions that are currently diagnosed separately.

The team will also examine how medications such as lithium and antipsychotics relate to differences in brain functional dynamics and connectivity. The project’s broader aims include improving diagnosis, clarifying how these disorders affect the brain, and identifying brain measures that drug trials could use to tell whether a treatment is working. Any such measures would need further testing before they could guide diagnosis or treatment.

“Studies of this size depend on researchers around the world agreeing to share methods and pursue the same questions,” said Arthur W. Toga, PhD, director of the Stevens INI. “By bringing together data from tens of thousands of people across eight conditions, this work could help move psychiatry toward measures grounded in brain biology.”

About the Project

The leadership team includes 17 institutions in the United States, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, and Australia. This project is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, a part of the National Institutes of Health, under award number R01MH142539. Stevens INI researchers on the project include Drs. Christopher R. K. Ching and Katherine Lawrence, and Sophia Thomopoulos (ENIGMA consortium manager).

Thursday, October 22, 2026 - 13:12

Optellum’s Virtual Nodule Clinic Now Available on RapidAI’s Enterprise Platform

tim.hodson — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 20:12:40 +0000

tim.hodson Wed, 10/21/2026 - 15:12

Oct. 20, 2026 — Optellum has announced that its Virtual Nodule Clinic (VNC) with Lung Cancer Prediction (LCP) AI is integrated with the Rapid Enterprise Platform from RapidAI. VNC joins a portfolio of 50+ RapidAI-developed and third-party clinical solutions that support radiologists and care teams across the patient journey, extending the platform's oncology coverage to the lung nodule pathway. RapidAI technology is used in more than 2,500 hospitals across 100+ countries.

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death in the United States and worldwide.¹ Many lung nodules are found incidentally on CT scans performed for other reasons, and 60% are lost to follow-up². Without a clear path to follow-up, the opportunity for earlier diagnosis can be missed.

Virtual Nodule Clinic

Optellum VNC includes Patient Discovery AI, which automatically searches radiology reports for documented lung nodules and identifies patients for review. VNC’s workflow management tools support patient tracking and follow-up, and LCP AI analyzes CT images to assess a nodule's cancer risk.

Together, these capabilities help care teams prioritize patients and reduce the risk of patients being lost to follow-up. VNC with LCP AI is the world's first FDA-cleared and Medicare-reimbursed AI solution for image-based lung cancer risk stratification.

Optellum is directly deployed at hundreds of clinical sites and has analyzed over 3 million cases to date. Integration with the Rapid Enterprise Platform will help accelerate that footprint, bringing Optellum’s capabilities to more care teams.

Through the integration, pulmonologists and clinic managers can access Optellum's capabilities as part of a connected enterprise platform. Health systems can deploy Optellum on their existing RapidAI platform through a single IT deployment, supported by consistent clinical workflows, best-in-class clinical solutions, and shared AI governance capabilities that provide a central place to monitor performance and oversee AI use.

"Our collaboration with RapidAI makes Virtual Nodule Clinic available to the many health systems that already rely on the Rapid Enterprise Platform," said Johnathan Watkins, PhD, CEO of Optellum. "Integrating VNC into the Rapid platform expands access, streamlines IT deployment, and accelerates putting clinically validated solutions in the hands of care teams. Together, we can help more patients with lung nodules get the right care sooner."

The solutions support clinical decision-making, with qualified clinicians responsible for interpreting results and determining appropriate patient care.

References

World Health Organization, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Global Cancer Observatory.
Pyenson et al 2019

Wednesday, October 21, 2026 - 15:12

British Institute of Radiology Debuts AI Academy

tim.hodson — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 15:50:52 +0000

tim.hodson Wed, 10/21/2026 - 10:50

Oct. 21, 2026 — The British Institute of Radiology (BIR) has launched the BIR AI Academy, a growing program of live, interactive artificial intelligence (AI) education for radiologists and imaging professionals. DeepHealth and Harrison.ai are its first industry collaborators.

Participants had a first look at the Academy on Oct. 20, in person London, and also online. Dr Teik Choon See, BIR Vice President for Education and the Academy’s clinical lead, welcomed participants through a recorded address and chaired the panel discussion, "The Reality of AI in Clinical Practice: Opportunities, Bottlenecks and Safety Netting."

BIR AI Academy Panel

The panel brought together perspectives from clinical practice and industry:

Prof. Andrea Rockall, Professor of Radiology and Clinical Chair in Radiology, Imperial College London
Dr. Jude Babar, Consultant Thoracic Radiologist, Cambridge University Hospitals & Clinical Director, Lung Cancer Screening HLH Group
Dr. Anna Sharman, Consultant Thoracic Radiologist, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust & National Lung Cancer Screening Lead
Dr. Niccolo Stefani, Business and Product Leader, Clinical AI and Population Health, DeepHealth

The discussion explored how AI moves from promise to practical impact, how its value is measured, the role of clinical collaboration, and why education matters for safe and confident use.

As AI becomes part of everyday imaging, professionals need opportunities to explore when, how and whether to use it in clinical practice. The Academy puts the clinical case at the center of learning: participants examine AI outputs, question them with clinical experts and industry specialists, and explore where AI helps, where its limits lie and what this means for patients.

The program is led by BIR and is clinically led and educationally independent. DeepHealth and Harrison.ai contribute real cases and access to the people developing and deploying AI, helping participants connect the technology with practical clinical decisions.

Dr Teik Choon See, Consultant Radiologist at Cambridge University Hospitals and BIR Vice President for Education, said:

“The Academy will grow and evolve alongside AI, bringing new clinical areas, expertise and perspectives into the program over time. Bring your questions, bring your skepticism, and bring your clinical judgment. Together, we can help shape how AI is used in imaging safely, thoughtfully, and with patients at the center.”

The first full live session, The Lung Imaging Pathway: From Chest X-ray to CT, takes place online on Tuesday 8 December 2026, with DeepHealth and Harrison.ai exploring real cases live.

The initial series comprises six 90-minute interactive sessions. Sessions are free for BIR members and cost £65 per session for non-members. Further clinical areas will follow as the program develops.

Find out more and register: https://bit.ly/485QaoG

Wednesday, October 21, 2026 - 10:50

GE HealthCare Expands Ultrasound Portfolio

tim.hodson — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 19:35:14 +0000

tim.hodson Mon, 10/19/2026 - 14:35

Oct. 19, 2026 – GE HealthCare has introduced LOGIQ Focus, a new addition to its LOGIQ family of general imaging ultrasound systems, designed to bring advanced imaging tools to a broader range of ultrasound exams. LOGIQ Focus is a versatile ultrasound system that pairs high-quality LOGIQ imaging with AI-enabled, automation and productivity tools intended to support greater confidence, consistency and efficiency across routine and more complex care areas.

"As demand for imaging grows, clinicians shouldn't have to choose between image quality and efficiency," said Karley Yoder, Chief Executive Officer, Ultrasound Solutions (USS), Advanced Imaging Solutions, GE HealthCare. "LOGIQ Focus builds on more than 30 years of LOGIQ innovation to deliver both, combining advanced imaging and clinician-centered AI-enabled tools that care teams rely on every day."

High Definition Ultrasound Display

LOGIQ Focus is built on cSound Architecture with advanced speckle reduction imaging and offers a range of multi-purpose and specialty probes. The ultrasound system is also equipped with a High Definition Ultrasound (HDU) display that aims to provide enhanced clarity and crisp images, helping clinicians visualize subtle structures and fine tissue differences, and advanced flow visualization tools designed to provide users with the flexibility to view flow with more clarity.

A third-party study showed that 90 percent of participants rated the overall image quality of LOGIQ Focus as excellent, and the ultrasound system was 26 percent faster than the predicate system.^1,2 The Vscan Air CL probe is compatible with the LOGIQ Focus, giving clinicians added flexibility with wireless, cable-free scanning.

LOGIQ Focus supports a range of imaging tools and digital solutions designed to streamline workflow, minimize re-work and interruptions while keeping clinicians in control and supporting more informed clinical decisions:

AI-enabled and automation tools designed to reduce manual steps, save time and improve consistency across users, including Auto Preset Assistant that automatically detects the anatomy being scanned and activates the corresponding preset. Clinicians can save up to five clicks during each exam with this tool and spend up to 25 percent less time on AI-automated tasks.^3,4
Productivity tools designed to help standardize exams, produce reproducible images, and streamline reporting like AutoEF, which automatically measures ejection fraction—a widely used measurement to assess heart function—and Scan Assistant, which guides users through exam protocols.
Verisound digital tools include Verisound Collab⁵ for virtual collaboration, allowing clinicians to easily communicate within their network.
Comprehensive liver solutions to improve liver assessments, including Ultrasound-Guided Fat Fraction, enabling more consistent assessment of liver fat burden and 2D shear wave elastography, supporting the evaluation of tissue stiffness changes associated with fibrosis.

"We designed LOGIQ Focus around what clinicians told us they need most: confidence on the first pass, a workflow that keeps pace, and a system they can count on to be there when they need it," said Michael Greene, General Manager, General Imaging, Primary Care and Automated Breast Ultrasound, USS, GE HealthCare. "LOGIQ Focus includes features so care teams spend less time on the system and more time with the patient, on a connected platform designed to evolve with their needs."

LOGIQ Focus is designed to perform consistently over time, simplify clinical operations, and remain serviceable and secure. The system incorporates SonoDefense, a multilayer cybersecurity approach for GE HealthCare ultrasound devices, which uses a defense-in-depth strategy with security controls deployed in multiple independent layers to help keep systems functional and protect patient data.

LOGIQ Focus is part of a wave of innovation across GE HealthCare's portfolio supported by more than $5 billion in innovation investment since 2023. LOGIQ Focus is one of the several new products expected to contribute 1 to 2 percent of revenue growth for the company.

LOGIQ Focus is 510(k) cleared and CE Marked. For more information, visit www.gehealthcare.com/en/products/ultrasound/logiq/logiq-focus.

References

In a third-party study conducted by UseLab GmBH. Physicians performed right upper quadrant (RUQ) abdominal ultrasound examinations, 90% rated LOGIQ Focus overall image quality as excellent. Excellent, defined as ≥4 on a 5-point scale.
Compared to predicate device in a head to head comparison for abdominal scans conducted by Use Lab GmBH July 2026.
LOGIQ Focus FDA Submission – Bench testing DOC3344208 Nexus R1 AI Feature Documentation: Manual vs AI Workflow.
GE HealthCare study. LOGIQ Ultrasound AI-driven solutions for abdominal exams. Conducted November 2023. JB29531X
Not for diagnostic use.

Monday, October 19, 2026 - 14:35

Nuclidium, NorthStar Medical Team Up to Advance Copper-67 Radiotheranostic Oncology Pipeline

tim.hodson — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 18:57:28 +0000

tim.hodson Mon, 10/19/2026 - 13:57

Oct. 19, 2026 — Nuclidium AG, a clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company, and NorthStar Medical Technologies, a global radiopharmaceutical supply-chain partner, have announced a long-term strategic partnership through which NorthStar will produce Copper-67 (Cu-67) and provide comprehensive radiopharmaceutical manufacturing services to support Nuclidium's therapeutic programs from clinical development through commercialization. Copper-67 is the therapeutic isotope component of Nuclidium ’s radiotheranostic programs to treat cancers with high unmet medical need.

The partnership underscores Nuclidium and NorthStar’s mutual commitment to expanding global patient access to precision radiopharmaceutical therapies. Nuclidium’s pipeline includes lead programs NU101 addressing metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and NU201 for metastatic breast cancer (mBC) as well as earlier stage programs in other solid tumor indications with a focus on women’s oncology.

The work will be led through NorthStar's vertically integrated U.S.-based radiopharmaceutical campus, where the company has pioneered advanced isotope production technologies, made significant investments in cGMP manufacturing, and maintains commercial-scale infrastructure to support growing global demand for targeted radiopharmaceutical therapies. NorthStar’s comprehensive approach enables a seamless transition from clinical development to commercialization, while reducing supply-chain complexity and accelerating program execution.

“Our collaboration with NorthStar strengthens our copper isotope supply chain at a critical moment, ensuring we are well prepared to execute on our near-term clinical development objectives and meet the long-term demand for our radiotheranostics,” said Leila Jaafar, PhD, CEO and Co-Founder of Nuclidium . “Nuclidium remains on track to initiate multiple therapeutic studies utilizing Copper-67 for mCRPC and mBC in the coming months, while expanding our radiotheranostic portfolio into the clinic, including specifically women´s oncology indications.”

“As demand for copper-based radiotheranostics continues to grow, reliable isotope supply and scalable manufacturing infrastructure will be essential for successful commercialization,” said Dr. Frank Scholz, President & CEO of NorthStar. “NorthStar’s integrated platform is designed to provide both, allowing NUCLIDIUM to advance its programs efficiently from clinical development through future commercial launch.”

Copper-67

Copper-67 is a short-range radioisotope that emits beta radiation to induce cell death in targeted tumor cells. The short half-life and lower radiation burden of Copper-67 limit the impact on surrounding healthy tissue. Nuclidium's radiopharmaceutical programs link Copper-67 to tumor-specific ligands to enable precision delivery and have the potential to achieve a best- or first-in-class clinical profile. The use of copper isotopes offers several distinct advantages over competing radioligands, including streamlined manufacturing, seamless integration into hospital workflows, reduced waste burden, and the potential for a wider therapeutic window.

Monday, October 19, 2026 - 13:57

FDA Clears AI-powered, MRI-derived Prognostic Tool for Assessing Breast Cancer Recurrence

tim.hodson — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 16:05:36 +0000

tim.hodson Mon, 10/19/2026 - 11:05

Oct. 15, 2026— SimBioSys has announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance of TumorSight Risk, its AI-powered, MRI-derived prognostic tool for assessing breast cancer recurrence risk. The software analyzes routinely collected breast MRI, pathology and clinical data to generate an individualized prognosis at five and 10 years, giving oncologists objective insight that can be available before surgery to support treatment planning for women with hormone receptor-positive (HR+), HER2-negative Stage I–IIIA breast cancer — a subtype representing approximately 75 percent of all breast cancers in the U.S.

"Achieving FDA clearance of TumorSight Risk marks a defining moment for SimBioSys and for precision breast cancer care," said Stacey Stevens, president and CEO of SimBioSys. "For the first time, clinicians can use the rich biological and spatial information already captured in a patient's breast MRI — together with standard pathology and clinical factors — to gain personalized insight into recurrence risk. By delivering this intelligence rapidly within the existing care pathway, TumorSight Risk has the potential to expand access to prognostic information and help clinicians and patients approach treatment decisions with greater clarity and confidence."

Built on the FDA-cleared TumorSight Viz foundation, TumorSight Risk applies proprietary spatial AI modeling to tumor characteristics, surrounding tissue context, and clinical factors. The cloud-based software platform produces a proprietary score from zero to 100 and a categorical high-, intermediate- or low-risk classification. It uses data already collected as part of routine care, requires no additional procedure, tissue shipment, or specialized hardware, and is designed to make results available within standard clinical workflows.

Breast Cancer Prognostic Indicator

TumorSight Risk is intended for use as a prognostic indicator of recurrence-free survival at five and 10 years in adult women with HR-positive, HER2-negative Stage I–IIIA breast cancer. The result should be considered alongside other relevant clinicopathologic factors when assessing risk and planning care.

The clearance is supported by a blinded, prospectively-designed retrospective, multi-institutional validation study of 2,129 patients from Mayo Clinic, Emory University, Stanford Medicine and Mercy Medical Cedar Rapids. Results were recently presented at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.¹ The study found that TumorSight Risk successfully stratified patients by recurrence-free survival:

Clear risk-group separation — Patients classified as high risk had a 3.3-fold greater risk of recurrence than those classified as low risk.
Strong score-response relationship — Each 10-point increase in the 0–100 score was associated with a 22 percent increase in relative recurrence risk.
Meaningful five- and 10-year differentiation — Estimated five-year recurrence risk ranged from 2.2 percent for patients with the lowest scores (0–10) to 13.6 percent for those with the highest scores (58–100). At ten years, estimated recurrence risk ranged from 6.2 percent to 34.2 percent across those same score groups.
Independent prognostic value — The score remained significantly associated with recurrence-free survival after adjustment for standard of care prognostic information including pathologic tumor and nodal stage, grade, age, race and treatment (p=0.002).

"Accurately defining recurrence risk is central to individualizing treatment for patients with early stage, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer," said Matthew Goetz, M.D., the Erivan K. Haub Family Professor of Cancer Research Honoring Richard F. Emslander, M.D. Enterprise Deputy Director, Translational Research and Director: Mayo Breast Cancer SPORE Mayo Clinic Rochester. "The multi-institutional validation data show that MRI-derived assessments may provide prognostic information beyond standard clinicopathologic factors. The ability to build on information already available in the diagnostic pathway could offer oncologists a practical new way to refine risk assessment and support more informed conversations with patients."

Current recurrence-risk assessment often depends on clinicopathologic features and tissue-based genomic assays. Although these approaches have advanced care, genomic testing may introduce cost, logistical requirements and turnaround time, and some patient groups—including premenopausal and lymph node-positive women—have historically had fewer validated options. TumorSight Risk is designed to complement existing methods with an imaging-native assessment that is available earlier in the care pathway and applicable across a broad population of patients with HR-positive, HER2-negative early-stage disease. That additional insight may help clinicians and patients weigh treatment options—including chemotherapy and whether to continue endocrine therapy beyond five years—alongside potential side effects, quality of life and patient preferences.

"TumorSight Risk expands the TumorSight platform from surgical visualization into prognostic intelligence, bringing us closer to a connected, patient-specific view of cancer across the continuum of care," added Ms. Stevens. "This world-first clearance demonstrates what becomes possible when imaging, biology and AI are brought together in a clinically meaningful way. We look forward to working with oncology teams to translate this advancement into more individualized care for patients nationwide."

References

https://www.asco.org/abstracts-presentations/265882/abstract

Monday, October 19, 2026 - 11:05

GE HealthCare’s MINItrace Magni Achieves CE Mark; Copper-64 Expands PETtrace Solid Target Platform

tim.hodson — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 20:33:22 +0000

tim.hodson Fri, 10/16/2026 - 15:33

Editor's Note: This article has been updated to correct an earlier version.

Oct. 15, 2026 — GE HealthCare has announced that its MINItrace Magni cyclotron has achieved CE Mark and that its PETtrace Solid Target Platform is expanding beyond Gallium-68 with support for Copper-64 (⁶⁴Cu) production. Together, the developments reflect the company’s focus on helping institutions build the production capabilities behind their molecular imaging programs—from establishing local PET radioisotope production to supporting research into emerging radiopharmaceuticals.

For healthcare providers building or expanding a positron emission tomography (PET) program, access to tracers is an important consideration. Many PET radioisotopes have short half-lives, making proximity between production and use a factor in supply planning. Cyclotrons produce these radioisotopes, which can then be incorporated into radiotracers used in PET imaging. Local production can give providers greater control over supply and scheduling while reducing reliance on external production and transportation.

“The molecular imaging landscape is being reshaped by the expansion of theranostics, the introduction of new PET tracers, and demand across oncology, neurology and cardiology,” said Erez Levy, Vice President of Molecular Imaging at GE HealthCare. “As tracer portfolios broaden, healthcare providers need reliable access to radioisotopes and the flexibility to respond to changing clinical needs. That calls for a longer-term view of radiopharmaceutical production — one that supports established services while allowing institutions to prepare for new clinical and research applications.”

Supporting Local Production

For institutions seeking to establish or expand in-house production, MINItrace Magni brings together a compact, self-shielded design and simplified operation. The cyclotron is designed to produce Fluorine-18 (¹⁸F), Carbon-11 (¹¹C), Oxygen-15 (¹⁵O) and Nitrogen-13 (¹³N) for PET tracers. Its CE Mark represents an important milestone for a system designed around the needs of in-house PET radioisotope production.

Aiming to help extend day-to-day operations, MINItrace Magni features an intuitive user interface and a three-click workflow designed to streamline routine production steps. Automated features are intended to simplify setup and operation, including auto-tuning, which prepares the cyclotron and targets, tunes the beam and manages target irradiation.

Producing the radioisotope is only one part of preparing a PET tracer. When used with GE HealthCare’s TRACERcenter Solutions, MINItrace Magni is designed to support a broader PET radiopharmacy workflow based on an institution’s clinical, operational and tracer-production needs. This approach supports providers in developing tailored local radiopharmaceutical capabilities aligned to the specific requirements of their molecular imaging programs, while considering both current and future departmental needs to create a sustainable holistic solution.

Broadening the Possibilities

Alongside decisions about where to produce radioisotopes, institutions must consider which radioisotopes their programs will need. For those seeking to broaden their production capabilities, the addition of Copper-64 extends the PETtrace Solid Target Platform beyond the production of Gallium-68, for which it was introduced in 2022, and Zirconium-89, which was made available in early 2026. The capability broadens the range of isotopes that may be produced using PETtrace cyclotron infrastructure, allowing customers to build on the platform as their isotope needs evolve.

Copper-64’s relevance includes exploring its potential role in connecting imaging with investigational therapeutic applications. It enables PET imaging and is also being studied with investigational Copper-67 agents as a potential diagnostic and therapeutic pair. This research sits within the broader field of theranostics, which connects molecular imaging with targeted radionuclide therapy. Clinical research is evaluating Copper-64-labeled compounds in areas including prostate cancer and HER2-positive breast cancer.

Supporting that work involves more than the cyclotron alone. GE HealthCare’s capabilities in cyclotrons, targetry, radiochemistry synthesis, molecular imaging and services are intended to help institutions establish solid-target production as part of a broader radiopharmacy workflow.

“A molecular imaging program needs a plan for the tracers it uses today and the ones it may want to explore tomorrow,” said Nicolas Durand-Schaefer, General Manager, Molecular Imaging, International, GE HealthCare. “MINItrace Magni’s CE Mark is an important milestone for a compact, versatile cyclotron designed to support local radioisotope production and enable healthcare providers to build radiopharmacy capabilities without the need for large-scale production infrastructure. Adding Copper-64 to PETtrace broadens the platform’s capabilities to support copper-based imaging and theranostics research. Our focus is on helping institutions connect the practical demands of running a radiopharmacy with their longer-term clinical and research ambitions.”

Both developments build on more than 40 years of GE HealthCare experience in cyclotron and PET radiopharmacy technologies, extending the company’s focus on the production capabilities and workflows that support molecular imaging.

For more information about GE HealthCare’s PET radiopharmacy solutions, visit gehealthcare.com.

Friday, October 16, 2026 - 15:33

Imaging Technology News

UAMS Debuts Mobile Lung Cancer Screening Fleet

Expanding Access to Lung Screening

Sponsored eBook: HL7 vs. FHIR: The Interoperability Decision Every Imaging Operation Is Facing

HL7 vs. FHIR: The Interoperability Decision Every Imaging Operation Is Facing

Researchers Study MRI Brain Scans to Determine Brain Function Across Mental Illnesses

MRI Reading the Brain at Rest

One Method, Eight Disorders

How Disorders Group Together

About the Project

Optellum’s Virtual Nodule Clinic Now Available on RapidAI’s Enterprise Platform

Virtual Nodule Clinic

References

British Institute of Radiology Debuts AI Academy

BIR AI Academy Panel

GE HealthCare Expands Ultrasound Portfolio

High Definition Ultrasound Display

References

Nuclidium, NorthStar Medical Team Up to Advance Copper-67 Radiotheranostic Oncology Pipeline

Copper-67

FDA Clears AI-powered, MRI-derived Prognostic Tool for Assessing Breast Cancer Recurrence

Breast Cancer Prognostic Indicator

GE HealthCare’s MINItrace Magni Achieves CE Mark; Copper-64 Expands PETtrace Solid Target Platform