CEFR Level: B2 (Upper-Intermediate)

Also available in: A1 | A2 | B1 | C1 | C2

Revolutionary AI System Interprets Brain MRIs in Seconds

February 10, 2026 — A groundbreaking artificial intelligence system developed at the University of Michigan can analyze brain MRI scans and deliver a diagnosis within seconds, achieving accuracy rates of up to 97.5%. The findings, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, could fundamentally transform how neurological imaging is handled across healthcare systems.

A New Approach to Medical Imaging

The system, named Prima, represents a significant departure from earlier AI medical imaging tools. While previous models were typically designed for narrow tasks—such as identifying specific lesions or estimating dementia risk—Prima was trained on a comprehensive dataset spanning more than 200,000 MRI studies and 5.6 million imaging sequences.

“Prima works like a radiologist by integrating information regarding the patient’s medical history and imaging data to produce a comprehensive understanding of their health,” explained Samir Harake, a data scientist on the research team.

Emergency Prioritization

Beyond diagnostic accuracy, Prima demonstrates a sophisticated ability to triage cases based on urgency. Conditions such as strokes and brain hemorrhages require immediate intervention, and delays can result in permanent damage or death.

The system can automatically alert the most appropriate subspecialist—whether a stroke neurologist or neurosurgeon—immediately after a patient completes imaging. This automated notification system could significantly reduce the time between diagnosis and treatment.

Addressing Systemic Healthcare Challenges

The demand for MRI scans continues to grow globally, outpacing the availability of trained neuroradiologists. This imbalance has led to chronic staffing shortages, diagnostic delays, and in some cases, medical errors. Depending on the healthcare facility, patients may wait days for their results.

Dr. Todd Hollon, the study’s senior author and a neurosurgeon at University of Michigan Health, described the potential impact: “As the global demand for MRI rises and places significant strain on our physicians and health systems, our AI model has potential to reduce burden by improving diagnosis and treatment with fast, accurate information.”

Technical Innovation

Prima belongs to a category of AI known as vision language models (VLMs), which can process images, video, and text simultaneously in real time. Unlike earlier medical AI systems, Prima incorporates patients’ clinical histories alongside the imaging data, mimicking how human radiologists actually work.

Future Applications

The researchers envision expanding the technology to other imaging modalities, including mammograms, chest X-rays, and ultrasounds. Dr. Hollon compared Prima to “ChatGPT for medical imaging,” suggesting it could serve as a “co-pilot” for physicians rather than a replacement.

However, the team emphasizes that additional research and validation are required before widespread clinical deployment.

Vocabulary Help

• triage = the process of determining the priority of patients’ treatments based on severity
• intervention = a medical procedure or action taken to treat a condition
• modalities = different methods or forms (in medicine, different types of imaging techniques)
• deployment = the process of putting something into active use
• neuroradiologist = a radiologist who specializes in imaging the brain and nervous system

Grammar Focus

• Complex passive constructions: “designed for narrow tasks”
• Present participles: “mimicking how human radiologists work”
• Conditional structures: “could significantly reduce”
• Formal academic register: “represents a significant departure”