Ethical Considerations for Artificial Intelligence in Medical Imaging: Deployment and Governance

Abstract

The deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to make nuclear medicine and medical imaging faster, cheaper, and both more effective and more accessible. This is possible, however, only if clinicians and patients feel that these AI medical devices (AIMDs) are trustworthy. Highlighting the need to ensure health justice by fairly distributing benefits and burdens while respecting individual patients’ rights, the AI Task Force of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging has identified 4 major ethical risks that arise during the deployment of AIMD: autonomy of patients and clinicians, transparency of clinical performance and limitations, fairness toward marginalized populations, and accountability of physicians and developers. We provide preliminary recommendations for governing these ethical risks to realize the promise of AIMD for patients and populations.