Nuance Communications is backing a new artificial intelligence initiative by the American College of Radiology (ACR). The ACR AI-LAB will help radiologists and developers build AI algorithms tailored to the needs of radiologists.

Nuance will facilitate that process by giving developers access to the AI imaging algorithms currently for sale on the Nuance AI Marketplace. It will also make it much easier for radiologists to share their solutions with peers in other healthcare facilities and generate useful feedback to improve existing applications.

“ACR AI-LAB opens doors for developers and radiologists to rapidly build, test and customize high-quality AI models,” said Nuance Healthcare Diagnostics VP Karen Holzberger.

“By utilizing Nuance’s AI Marketplace, developers using ACR AI-LAB can rapidly deploy the AI models they build into the existing workflows of our members without having to worry about any of the last mile connections,” added ACR Chief Information Officer Mike Tilkin.

As it stands, Nuance’s reach extends to more than 5,800 healthcare facilities and 70 percent of American radiologists. The company’s AI tech is already popular with healthcare providers, and has been used for clinics and medical records. The ACR partnership will encourage radiologists to build their own custom algorithms, which is in keeping with Nuance’s efforts to make it easier to develop virtual assistants.