Perry Pickhardt, MD was quoted in the BBC article “How AI can spot diseases that doctors aren’t looking for,” published January 16, 2025. The article examines the use of AI in opportunistic imaging, which is when medical images taken for one health concern are reviewed to potentially detect an undiagnosed issue.
For opportunistic screening, an AI tool uses an algorithm trained on previous scans that have been tagged and identified for specific conditions by radiologists. The AI tool can then identify similar patterns in new scans, which may lead to a diagnosis that would have gone unnoticed for years. And while a radiologist can do opportunistic screening without AI, it requires significant time and shifting focus away from the immediate health issue.
A prominent researcher in the use of AI, Dr. Pickhardt noted that clinical use is just beginning but has a lot of potential. The earlier a disease can be detected, the better the prognosis as treatment can start sooner and slow advancement of diseases.
“We can avoid a lot of the lack of prevention that we have missed out on previously,” said Dr. Pickhardt.