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The market for Quantitative Imaging Software1 comprises a wide range of software tools that provide automated measurements of anatomical structures, for various body sites and across multiple modalities. These tools vary in complexity, from tools that provide size measurements, to tools that provide more advanced metrics, such as perfusion analysis and texture analysis.
The market is being driven by the evolution of radiology from a largely descriptive field to a more quantitative discipline. Quantitative imaging, also called radiomics, is the use of algorithmic tools to provide objective and repeatable measurements of imaging biomarkers, such as size, texture, calcification, location in the organ and rate of growth. These biomarkers are indications of disease characteristics and may be useful for predicting prognosis and therapeutic response. Quantitative imaging decreases the subjectivity associated with radiologist interpretation of medical images, leading to increased diagnostic and prognostic accuracy.
Quantitative imaging tools have been available for many years and are typically sold as applications for advanced visualisation platforms. There is a growing trend to combine quantitative imaging data with other relevant information, such as pathology reports and patient information extracted from an EHR. This relatively new class of products, called Decision Support Tools, is forecast to take-off in the coming years, with the first products now entering the market.
Several companies are developing Computer-aided Diagnosis (CADx) systems that provide the functionality of Decision Support Tools and provide interpretation of medical images, for example, a probability score for the presence of cancer. The first FDA approved CADx systems are expected to enter the market later this year. These first generation CADx systems will have narrow diagnostic capabilities and will be limited to specific parts of the body and specific modalities, e.g. diagnosis of breast cancer from MRI scans. The introduction of CADx systems with broad diagnostic capabilities, at an affordable price point, will be the trigger for more widespread uptake of CADx systems, but this is likely to be several years away.
This topic and other issues will be explored in full in Signify Research’s upcoming market report ‚ÄòMachine Learning in Radiology – World Market Report‘, publishing in January 2017. For further details please click here or contact Simon.Harris@signifyresearch.net.
1 The Quantitative Imaging Software market comprises Quantitative Imaging Tools, Decision Support Tools and Computer-aided Diagnosis Systems.