Artificial intelligence (AI) in medical imaging is rapidly growing to advance healthcare in adults but is less developed in the pediatric population. Unfortunately, many of the algorithms developed for use in adults cannot be used for children. This inability to translate adult tools to pediatric patients is due to many factors, including the wide range of body sizes, normal growth and development, different disease types, diverse manifestations of similar disorders, imaging bioeffects (such as to contrast media and radiation), and unique socioeconomic factors.
Pediatric patient needs are not being sufficiently considered when AI is developed, tested or deployed, and applications may be ineffective or detrimental to pediatric patients.Specifically, to date, none of commercially available medical imaging AI tools that diagnose, triage, or detect abnormalities were designed to be used in pediatric patients, and only a handful of tools for image processing or quantification have been developed to be used in pediatric patients. For this reason a Pediatric AI Working Group in the ACR® Informatics Commission has been established and is sponsoring the Image IntelliGently™ campaign to ensure equal access to high-quality and safe AI for pediatric patients.