Google Cloud and German healthcare giant Bayer announced Tuesday that they are working together to develop new AI tools for radiologists.
Bayer will use Google’s cloud computing technology to improve its AI-powered innovation platform with a focus on radiology applications— the branch of healthcare that uses imaging like CT scans, ultrasounds, and MRIs to help diagnose and treat illnesses. The companies hope the platform will help health and science organizations build large and safe AI tools.
“Radiologists and other clinicians face burnout due to the sheer volume of work they face every day. Gen AI can help tackle repetitive tasks and provide insights into massive data sets, saving valuable time and helping to positively impact patient outcomes,” Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said in a statement.
Kurian told CNBC that the platform could take advantage of AI to flag concerns within images, compare to previous screenings, and automatically pull up a patient’s relevant medical history.
The partnership comes as the industry is struggling with a labor shortage. The American College of Radiology (ACR) said in a blog post in March that government-funded residency programs for new radiologists are not meeting demand to treat the nation’s aging population. At the time, the ACR noted that its job board had more than 1,400 open job positions — that figure has since grown to nearly 1,800.
“Bayer’s platform is designed to help bring innovative medical imaging tools to market faster and more cost-effectively,” the companies said. The first version of the platform will launch later this year in the U.S. and Europe.
The platform will also help developers analyze and experiment with enormous amounts of data securely — imaging accounts for 90% of all healthcare data. In addition, they can use AI-powered search to find relevant documents from regulators and scientific papers. Developers can also use the platform’s generative AI capabilities to create documents needed for gaining regulatory approval, the companies said. And the platform can review field data to detect biases and other insights.