The Duke Spark Initiative for AI in Medical Imaging formally launches this week. Spark’s mission at Duke encompasses research into development and use of artificial intelligence in medical imaging, with an emphasis on collaborative work between physicians across different specialties and machine learning experts.

“Spark represents the kind of collaboration that can realize the full potential of the diverse pool of knowledge, talent, and insight across the School of Medicine and the larger university community,” says Mary Klotman, MD, executive vice president for health affairs at Duke University and the dean of the Duke University School of Medicine. “As AI technologies are increasingly integrated into patient care and research, efforts like Duke Spark will be essential for ensuring that these tools yield meaningful benefits for patients and clinicians.”

An interdepartmental effort convened under the umbrella of Duke AI Health, Spark includes a team of faculty researchers and exceptional trainees drawn from the Departments of Radiology, Surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery, Medicine, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science, and Biomedical Engineering.

“Analysis of medical images emerged as one of the most promising and potentially impactful applications of artificial intelligence. Materializing this impact, however, will be a challenge that needs thoughtful and well-organized collaborative effort,” notes Maciej Mazurowski, PhD, who has been named director for Duke Spark. “Spark will provide the ground for this effort at Duke.”

Dr. Mazurowski, an associate professor with appointments in the Departments of Radiology, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Computer Science, currently leads a federally funded laboratory that develops and evaluates artificial intelligence methods for medical imaging.

“Dr. Mazurowski is an outstanding choice to lead this important new initiative,” notes David Page, PhD, chair of the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, which provides support to the initiative. “His strong background in machine learning plus his extensive experience with medical imaging will allow him to hit the ground running with Duke Spark.”

Significant investments in Duke Spark from the Department of Radiology and the Department of Surgery will support a partnership focused on cutting-edge research into surgical applications of imaging AI.

“We’re excited to be a part of development and implementation of AI algorithms for analyzing medical images through this important initiative,” says Erik Paulson, MD, chair of the Department of Radiology. “Radiological imaging is integral to modern medicine, and we expect this project to yield significant and impactful results,” he adds.

“Development and evaluation of artificial intelligence algorithms in the context of medicine is a truly interdisciplinary endeavor,” notes Duke Department of Surgery Chair Allan Kirk, MD, PhD, who adds that multiple perspectives and areas of expertise are essential to building effective and equitable AI tools for healthcare applications.

As the initiative grows, Mazurowski expects to add a rapidly expanding network of collaborators.

“Medical imaging is present in virtually all specialties of medicine. Duke Spark will leverage already existing successful collaborative work across many departments at Duke to build a strong collaborative research network,” Mazurowski says.

Duke Spark had an informal “soft” launch in the spring of 2022. Since that time, the initiative has been a growing presence on campus, conducting research and sponsoring educational outreach through seminars hosted by Duke AI Health.

“The use of AI for medical imaging applications has recently been accelerated by a series of breakthroughs and improvements in machine learning, and the field shows no signs of cooling off,” says AI Health Director and Duke Health Chief Data Scientist Michael Pencina, PhD. “Spark will be a key component of Duke’s larger efforts to ensure that patients benefit from AI tools that are safe, effective, ethical, and equitable.”