Perhaps AI can optimize MRI operating costs. But the question then is whether those savings would be passed on to the patient or accrued by the manufacturer and hospital as extra margin.
Only needed 1 tech for my MRI which lasted well under an hour. They may be expensive, but they don't get $100 an hour, so hard to believe that is a cost driver for a scan that costs over $1000.
1 tech to take the scan. And another one to actually examine/interpret the scan. Which for a full-body scan with no symptoms or specific areas to examine takes a lot longer than just taking the scan.
> They may be expensive, but they don't get $100 an hour
Radiology is one of the highest paying medical specialties. My cousin is one of the radiologists who interprets scans. He makes about $500k per year. Searching online, about $170/hr is average.
Yes, a properly done full body scan interpretation will take hours. It's about 30 minutes to analyze a scan of just someone's kidneys when there's already symptoms and doctor's note on what to look for.
The longest part is often just the paperwork and noting what was not seen.
The radiologist is a specialized medical doctor. They are not cheap. My neighbor is one, and she makes a considerable amount of money. They’re not technicians, and good ones command more than most surgeons.
Yes, but they can sit at a screen and analyze this stuff all day. It's not like a surgury where you have 3 or 4 OR staff and dozens of support staff to account for who all have to be on site and scrubbed in, etc.
MRI techs and radiologists aren’t cheap.