Smith-Bindman and like-minded colleagues have long pushed for federal policies aimed at improving safety for patients undergoing CT scans. Under new Medicare regulations effective this year, hospitals and imaging centers must start collecting and sharing more information about the radiation their scanners emit.

A deep-learning algorithm has enabled ultra-low dose CT scans to diagnose pneumonia with only 2% of the radiation of standard scans. The AI dramatically improved image clarity, reducing false positives and making nodules easier to detect.

In the United States, around 93 million CT scans are performed every year, notes IMV, which is a medical market research company that tracks imaging. The most number of people who are getting these scans are people over the age of 60,