What’s expected in the world of C-arms going forward? The advent of widespread artificial intelligence access is proven to be the most likely next frontier to be seen in real-time. The combination of technology and medical hardware has already made the mini C-arm a formidable tool that just about every physician either wants to have or uses already (see examples at minicarm.com). Larger models have become the standard for diagnostic equipment in hospitals and large clinics, especially when needed to perform large body scans without moving a patient. The science fiction of Star Trek visionaries in the med lab are becoming a reality in modern medicine.
The Expected Near Future
Market watchers fully expect that the integration of AI will be digested within the software and scanning tools of advanced near-future C-arm models. Where mini C-arm units will work well as they do already with field settings and mobile medical offices, larger units will provide robust scanning combined with heavy-duty computer systems crunching the measured data and providing detailed analyses for doctors. Similar to the data gathered in full body scans about the potential for sickness, C-arms are expected to provide similar for doctors focused on acute conditions and isolating their status as well as causes.
Resources Exist to Make Things Happen
The C-arm industry has the financial strength to follow through on the concept. The market is already generating some $2 billion in sales in 2021 and will continue to do the same given the popularity of the equipment already. In fact, analysts estimate that C-arm demand will continue at a pace of 5% growth at least through 2030. Advancements in its marriage with software will only continue to drive that demand for the equipment.
Combined with above, the learning capabilities of AI continue to grow exponentially. Major AI bot levels are already multiple levels beyond where they were just a year ago, mainly due to real-time training with public input and regular usage.
The Robots are Learning
As a result, it is highly likely that the first robotic health systems will come online within the next decade, easily providing accurate and detailed diagnoses of patients with a combination of scans effectively applied with C-arm equipment and automated operation. Patients will simply place themselves or be helped into the scanning seat, area, or table, and the equipment will take over and do the rest of the work. Then, that data will be combined with the patient’s history and probability charts to estimate the likelihood of condition progression and how to proceed with treatment. It’s practically guaranteed given the effective and functional design already.
