Why We Started Radimal (and Why It’s About So Much More Than Radiology Reports)

Why We Started Radimal (and Why It’s About So Much More Than Radiology Reports)

Uncertainty at work isn’t a novel emotion. Plenty of people deal with challenging projects, unclear decisions, and even a little bit of imposter syndrome.

But, when you work in veterinary medicine, apprehension and ambiguity do more than keep you up at night. They can quite literally mean the difference between life and death for your patients.

When you head home at night, you aren’t obsessing over how you worded an email—you’re second-guessing whether you diagnosed heart failure correctly or if you should’ve performed a different test.

The mental burden and strain for people who work in veterinary medicine are real. Combine that skyrocketing stress with a high degree of empathy and huge student debt load, and it’s no wonder that the suicide rate among veterinary professionals is so high.

In fact, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that male veterinarians were 2.1 times as likely to die from suicide when compared with the general population. Female veterinarians were 3.5 times as likely.

Those statistics are alarming, and they bring us right to the heart of why we started Radimal: to offer support, boost confidence, reduce doubt, and provide peace of mind to today’s veterinarians.

So...what is Radimal?

Radimal provides solutions for the numerous radiology problems that veterinarians encounter. We’re sure at least one of these scenarios sounds familiar:

  • You’re a general practitioner who takes X-rays in-house and needs to review them yourself, even though you may have limited radiology training

  • You send X-rays to a teleradiology company, but they’re backlogged and you can’t get the reports you need until days (or even weeks) later

  • You feel like you’re shooting in the dark with X-rays, and it’s having an impact not only on your patient care but also your mental health and stress levels

Radimal builds software that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze X-rays and provide radiology reports within minutes (not days).

We’ve shown our machine learning system a huge number of X-rays in order to teach it what a normal X-ray looks like—whether it’s of the thorax, abdomen, pelvis, or something else. When you submit your X-ray to Radimal AI, it automatically compares it to all of the X-rays it has already seen and provides you with a detailed radiology report directly to your email in minutes.

Rest assured that Radimal AI doesn’t exist to replace radiologists. There will always be complex cases that require a human eye and Radimal also offers a full consult service.

Rather, Radimal AI provides added peace of mind for veterinarians. When they do their own interpretation, they can quickly see if Radimal’s analysis backs up their diagnosis and instincts. Or, perhaps it will flag something that they didn’t notice on their own.

Think of Radimal AI as another tool in your toolkit—an extra gut check to confirm your own findings so that you can go home at night feeling confident in your decisions.

Who’s behind Radimal?

Radimal was created by two co-founders: Dr. Andrew Weissman and Alan Weissman

Alan comes from the world of startups and technology where he has designed artificial intelligence for everything from automated chatbots for consumer brands to physical tagging security for government and industry.

Andrew is a board-certified veterinary radiologist (DACVR) with 10 years of experience in radiology. Like many veterinarians, he was carrying a heavy caseload and frequently ended the workday feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and burned out.

At one point, Alan (who is Andrew’s brother) suggested that they do something about it. Veterinary medicine—especially when it comes to technology—is often well behind other industries, and Alan knew there had to be a better, more streamlined way to address these common issues.

So, Radimal was born.

While our algorithms are smart (and getting smarter every single day), we’re passionate about doing everything we can to help veterinarians feel more confident and less stressed. That’s why Radimal is 100% human supported. If you want to ask a DACVR a question, it’s easy to click “reply” on your report. You’ll get a fast response from a real, human DACVR right away.

What’s next for Radimal?

Radimal launched in 2020 and has since helped over 10,000 patients and hundreds of veterinarians. We’re looking forward to making a real difference in the lives, workload, and mental health of veterinary professionals.

While these problems don’t have quick or easy solutions, we’re thrilled to be a part of taking a step in the right direction toward happier vets and healthier pets.

Curious about Radimal? Schedule a demo with us to learn more.

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