AI reads brain MRIs in seconds with 97.5% accuracy

Radiologists spend minutes per scan. Prima does it in seconds.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have built an AI system called Prima that can read brain MRIs in seconds, covering more than 30,000 studies and over 50 different diagnoses with 97.5% accuracy. The system auto-flags urgent cases and routes them to the right specialist, cutting the time between scan and treatment decision.

A separate project called BrainIAC, trained on 49,000 scans and published in Nature Neuroscience, takes a different approach but reaches similar conclusions: AI can match or exceed human radiologists on brain imaging across a wide range of conditions.

The practical upside is enormous. Emergency departments lose hours waiting for radiologist reads, especially overnight. An AI triage layer that catches strokes, bleeds, and tumours in seconds could save lives before a human expert even opens the file.

Neither system replaces radiologists. Both act as a first filter, flagging the scans that need immediate attention and deprioritising the routine ones. The radiologist still makes the call. They just get better information, faster.