Could 'Google Brain' create technology to aid radiologists?

Google researchers, who have put their machine-learning expertise to work with consumer products like Translate and Images, are now stepping into the realm of healthcare.

According to CNBC, the Google team's development could address problems in specialties like radiology and pathology, where staff are overloaded with information to look at in a short period of time—leading to higher risks of mistakes being made. To combat this issue, Stanford Medicine, UC San Francisco and the University of Chicago Medicine stripped millions of patients medical records of personally identifying data and shared them with Google’s research team, Google Brain.

In an interview with CNBC, head of product at Google Brain, Katherine Chou said, "We can improve predictions for medical events that might happen to you. We have validated the data and seen promising results. Those results will not be released until a formal review process.”

Full article here: 

Jodelle joined TriMed Media Group in 2016 as a senior writer, focusing on content for Radiology Business and Health Imaging. After receiving her master's from DePaul University, she worked as a news reporter and communications specialist.

Around the web

The new F-18 flurpiridaz radiotracer is expected to help drive cardiac PET growth, but it requires waiting between rest and stress scans. Software from MultiFunctional Imaging can help care teams combat that problem.

News of an incident is a stark reminder that healthcare workers and patients aren’t the only ones who need to be aware around MRI suites.

The ACR hopes these changes, including the addition of diagnostic performance feedback, will help reduce the number of patients with incidental nodules lost to follow-up each year.