Diana Bracco: "Artificial Intelligence will assist radiologists in making increasingly accurate and reliable diagnoses"
29 September 2023
Unlocking the AI Revolution - A Symposium on the future of the Healthcare Industry and Diagnostic Imaging in the era of Artificial Intelligence is the title describing the theme of the 2023 edition of Bracco Innovation Day. This event took place at the Human Technopole Auditorium in Milan.
Fulvio Renoldi Bracco, Vice President and CEO of Bracco Imaging, opened the proceedings with a talk in which he observed: "Artificial Intelligence is significantly impacting our lives and its adoption in diagnostic imaging will greatly benefit both patients and healthcare providers. Therefore, we have long since built a dedicated AI team that collaborates with prestigious universities, hospitals, and private companies and that aims to develop algorithms and smart solutions capable of improving the diagnostic performance of contrast media, resulting in increasingly accurate and predictive imaging."
Diana Bracco, President and CEO of Bracco Group
The symposium included three sessions with important international keynote speakers, and concluded with final remarks by Anna Maria Bernini, Minister of University and Research. The first one, which looked at the new capacities of Artificial Intelligence in drug discovery, omics sciences, and pharmaceutical manufacturing, highlighted how AI is destined to play a significant role in many aspects of medicine and the healthcare industry. Specifically, AI will: accelerate the speed of development of new engineered drugs for specific targets, facilitate the study and management of large amounts of omics data for the prevention and treatment of human diseases, and streamline the production sector to maximize yields and minimize environmental impact.
The second session was dedicated to the impact of AI in radiology, where significant topics regarding the adoption of AI in diagnostic imaging were addressed.
The final session addressed the numerous ethical, political and regulatory aspects that national and international institutions are currently addressing in the face of the AI revolution.
This final session was opened by Diana Bracco, President and CEO of Bracco Group, who spoke of the growing importance of diagnostic imaging for patients' health, a sector in which the company is a global leader. "Imaging is consolidating its status as a pillar of contemporary medicine and as an essential tool for the identification of pathologies and the development of innovative medical treatments. Indeed, it is universally understood," she said, "that an early diagnosis not only enables personalized and targeted medicine but also helps address diseases in their initial stages. Precision imaging - thanks also to its non-invasive nature and minimal risk for the patient - will increasingly take center stage in the medicine of the future, where diagnosis and therapy appear to be more closely integrated." Diana Bracco then turned her attention to the potential of the AI revolution for diagnostic imaging. "Artificial Intelligence will assist our radiologists in their work, supporting them in producing increasingly precise and reliable diagnostic reports."
In addition to the many visitors, Bracco Innovation Day was attended by invited researchers from Bracco facilities in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and China. During the session dedicated to 'AI in radiology,' the results of an important study published in the prestigious journal Investigative Radiology: https://journals.lww.com/investigativeradiology/fulltext/9900/amplifying_the_effects_of_contrast_agents_on.129.aspx. were presented. This study was authored by, among others, Alberto Fringuello Mingo, Sonia Colombo Serra, and Giovanni Valbusa, three young researchers from Bracco Imaging. Through the use of Artificial Intelligence, the team successfully "trained" a neural network using an innovative approach to enhance the contrast in Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the brain, all without any impact on the current clinical protocol.
