Patients Are Open to AI in Healthcare – But on Their Terms

Research from Canada and the UK suggests patients see the potential for AI to improve healthcare, provided clinicians remain involved.

When it comes to artificial intelligence and healthcare, you'd expect people to be hesitant. After all, we're talking about some of our most sensitive personal information. But research suggests people are increasingly open to AI playing a role in their care, especially if it means shorter wait times and better access.

New polling from Santis Health and Nanos Research found that 71% of respondents are open to AI reviewing their medical tests or scans if it means seeing a specialist sooner. Similar attitudes are emerging in the UK, where a Royal College of Radiologists survey found that 61% of respondents supported using AI to speed up the processing of CT and MRI scans.

What could that look like in medical imaging?

Over the years, ultrasound machines have become smaller and more portable, but performing an ultrasound still typically requires a trained operator who knows how to position and move the probe to capture the necessary images.

That dependence on skilled operators becomes a serious constraint when there aren't enough of them. In the U.S., 12.4% of sonography positions were vacant in 2025, according to the American Society of Radiologic Technologists. 

While AI software can help clinicians analyze existing scans, Sonus is developing an AI-native sensor designed to change how those scans are captured in the first place. The Sonus Patch™ is an AI-powered ultrasound platform designed to automate image acquisition, reducing the need for expert positioning and potentially enabling nurses, community health workers and other non-specialists to collect ultrasound data.

As Sonus CEO Hani Eskandari explained in a recent BNN Bloomberg interview:

“We're bringing ultrasound out of the hospital settings and into more accessible settings such as clinics, primary care physicians' offices, and the pharmacies, and eventually to patients' homes.”

From capturing images to understanding them

Automating the scan is only part of the solution. AI has the potential to help process and interpret ultrasound data, identify meaningful changes and provide clinicians with information to support faster, more informed decisions. Over time, these capabilities could make more frequent monitoring possible and help identify potential health problems earlier.

We're beginning to explore that future through planned clinical studies. These studies will help us validate AI models for various applications involving cardiac monitoring and the early detection  related diseases.

It's an important step toward understanding how autonomous ultrasound and AI could expand access to diagnostic information in communities where conventional ultrasound services are limited.

Better access. Better information. Better care.

Public support for AI in healthcare comes with conditions. Patients want reassurance that their personal health information is protected, that AI is used responsibly and that clinicians remain accountable for medical decisions.

But the potential is significant. What if AI could help patients get diagnostic information sooner? What if it could make medical imaging available in places where it hasn't traditionally been accessible?

That's the future we're working toward at Sonus Microsystems: using AI not just to improve existing healthcare processes, but to make medical imaging accessible to more people, in more places.

Sources: Santis–Nanos Canadian Health Perspective, October 2026; Royal College of Radiologists public attitudes survey, 2025; American Society of Radiologic Technologists staffing survey, 2025.