Bayer has recently announced the launch of Calantic Digital Solutions, a new digital platform providing access to digital applications, including AI-based programs, for medical imaging. The offering includes tools to help triage critical patient findings for expedited review, to enhance lesion detection, and automate tasks. As a result of this launch, Bayer expands its spectrum of product offerings beyond contrast media, devices, software, and services, enabling healthcare professionals to help detect diseases early in the patient’s life.
Gerd Krüger, Head of Radiology, Bayer Pharmaceuticals, said, “Built on our leading industry knowledge and deep medical understanding across a multitude of diagnostic and therapeutic areas, Calantic Digital Solutions underlines our commitment to continue accelerating innovation for the benefit of patients and their physicians. With Calantic Digital Solutions, we are entering the fastest-growing segment in the radiology market and taking the next step from a product provider to a solution provider, following our mission to provide an ecosystem of third-party and Bayer products to deliver innovative disease-oriented solutions for radiologists and their teams.”
To help radiologists manage their workflow efficiently, apps will focus on three key areas: finding pathologies and findings that require urgent review and treatment; detecting lesions and automating routine processes.
This new introduction occurs while the demand for medical imaging is rising due to the rise in chronic diseases. With radiology’s rising complexity, including a five-fold increase in the amount of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images produced every scan, an average radiologist would need to interpret one image every 3-4 seconds in an 8-hour workday in some circumstances to satisfy workload needs. The lack of radiologists is making the issue worse. The occurrence of burnout among radiologists is influenced by time constraints and workload.
Furthermore, research indicates that working lengthy hours of overtime increases the rate of diagnostic errors. Digital technologies can assist radiologists and their teams in managing the increasing workload, eventually aiming to improve patient care.
Dr. Ryan Lee, Chair, Department of Radiology, Einstein Healthcare Network, Philadelphia, said, “AI has the potential to transform healthcare, and, particularly in medical imaging, it can turn the growing amounts of data into value-adding insights to support radiologists and their teams in their decision-making. It is crucial to drive innovation in this area and broaden access to digital tools that can help address the rising demand for solutions which improve the speed and accuracy of diagnoses.”
