Principal Investigator Videos: Andreas Rauschecker on AI Tools Enhancing MRI

At UCSF, Andreas Rauschecker, MD, PhD, is a leader in developing AI tools to help specialists diagnose and monitor neurological diseases. From brain tumors to Multiple Sclerosis to neurodegenerative conditions, and even rare inherited pediatric diseases, Rauschecker’s work has created ways to better extract information from MRI scans. These AI tools can work alongside the radiologist, providing them with additional insights.

One such project is an AI assistance program, Adaptive Radiology Interpretation and Education System (ARIES), that helps trainees make significant improvements in their brain MRI diagnostic accuracy, particularly in rare diseases. This AI tool – which in some ways simulates years of diagnostic experience – showed promise in helping non-specialists approach the accuracy of subspecialists in many areas.

In another project, Rauschecker developed new AI-imaging methods to predict genetic biomarkers of glioblastoma from a preoperative brain MRI, a potentially useful advance for delivered individualized, precision therapies for brain cancer.

Rauschecker is quick to note that UCSF and especially the Center for Intelligent Imaging (ci2) has been an optimal setting for his work. Leveraging UCSF’s vast database of medical records to create well-trained AI tools and image analysis programs enables nuanced and confident predictions, all while complying with HIPAA privacy standards.

This is the second in a series of videos showing our primary investigators and their groundbreaking work at the UCSF Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging. These investigators bring imaging insights to the most challenging clinical questions in many different specialties, collaborating with experts across nearly every department at UCSF.