The Department of Radiodiagnosis and Interventional Radiology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi is now looking at rapidly integrating modern tools like Artificial Intelligence (AI) into imaging practice, a senior official from the institute said.

In a recent statement, the department noted that there had been a substantial surge in the number of procedures performed, with total radiology investigations increasing from 3,69,607 to 6,32,106 between 2019-20 and 2023-2024. During the same period, the number of ultrasound scans went up from 70,619 to 93,062; computed tomography (CT) scans from 27,044 to 40,044; and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans from 6,906 to 14,334.

"It is only the OPD (outpatient department) patients with chronic illnesses who may get long dates due to reasons beyond our control. In the past year, the department has expanded its services to new blocks and centres, like the surgical block, National Centre for Ageing, outreach centres in Ballabgarh and Jhajjar etc. The department has deployed the new RIS (radiology information system)-PACS (picture archive and communication system) system that seamlessly integrates imaging services across various hospital wings, significantly enhancing reporting efficiency and patient care quality,” the statement said.