The Era of Foundation Models in Medical Imaging is Approaching : A Scoping Review of the Clinical Value of Large-Scale Generative AI Applications in Radiology

TL;DR

This scoping review assesses the current state of large-scale generative AI in radiology, highlighting its potential to transform clinical practice despite current limitations and the absence of models outperforming radiologists.

Contribution

It systematically reviews existing literature on generative AI in medical imaging, emphasizing the development status, clinical applications, and future challenges.

Findings

Most studies focus on report generation and translation.

AI models show high accuracy but do not outperform radiologists.

Limited use of specialized medical imaging models.

Abstract

Social problems stemming from the shortage of radiologists are intensifying, and artificial intelligence is being highlighted as a potential solution. Recently emerging large-scale generative AI has expanded from large language models (LLMs) to multi-modal models, showing potential to revolutionize the entire process of medical imaging. However, comprehensive reviews on their development status and future challenges are currently lacking. This scoping review systematically organizes existing literature on the clinical value of large-scale generative AI applications by following PCC guidelines. A systematic search was conducted across four databases: PubMed, EMbase, IEEE-Xplore, and Google Scholar, and 15 studies meeting the inclusion/exclusion criteria set by the researchers were reviewed. Most of these studies focused on improving the efficiency of report generation in specific parts of the interpretation process or on translating reports to aid patient understanding, with the latest studies extending to AI applications performing direct interpretations. All studies were quantitatively evaluated by clinicians, with most utilizing LLMs and only three employing multi-modal models. Both LLMs and multi-modal models showed excellent results in specific areas, but none yet outperformed radiologists in diagnostic performance. Most studies utilized GPT, with few using models specialized for the medical imaging domain. This study provides insights into the current state and limitations of large-scale generative AI-based applications in the medical imaging field, offering foundational data and suggesting that the era of medical imaging foundation models is on the horizon, which may fundamentally transform clinical practice in the near future.