Polski
Software Is Eating Radiology, and Lublin Is Eating the CT Scanner Queue
This week in medical imaging is a good illustration of how global trends translate into local reality. On one hand, we have a market report showing that diagnostic software is becoming a separate, fast-growing business in its own right. On the other, hard evidence that EU funding is genuinely transforming the equipment in Polish hospitals. Let's start with the numbers.
01 · Software as a Medical Device
Software as a Medical Device Is Growing Faster Than the Hardware Itself
According to the latest report from DelveInsight, the global "Software as a Medical Device" (SaMD) market is set to grow from $2.1 billion in 2025 to as much as $8.9 billion in 2034 [1]. That's an average annual growth rate of around 17 percent — a pace that leaves most traditional medical equipment market segments in the dust.
The most value is generated by diagnostic and screening software, with imaging analytics, computer-aided diagnosis (CAD), and increasingly sophisticated algorithms for automated interpretation of radiological images serving as the main drivers of this growth [1]. In other words, the line between "hardware" and "software" in radiology is blurring at a pace that would have seemed unrealistic just a few years ago.
The report names both major equipment manufacturers — Philips, Siemens Healthineers, and GE HealthCare — and specialized AI companies such as Aidoc and Viz.ai as leaders in this space [1]. That's a signal that the big hardware players no longer treat diagnostic software as an add-on to the scanner, but as a separate business line that needs investment on a par with the hardware itself.
These global trends are one thing, but it's worth asking how they translate into concrete investments in Polish hospitals. And here we actually have a fresh example — not of a new algorithm, but of an entirely new hardware base.
02 · Hospital Modernization
Lublin: PLN 90 Million and a New Standard of Imaging Diagnostics
The MSWiA Hospital in Lublin has just completed a six-month modernization worth nearly PLN 90 million, of which PLN 76 million came from the National Recovery Plan (KPO) [2]. The result is concrete and measurable: the facility gained a 256-slice CT scanner, two angiography systems, a neurosurgical robot, and an anti-gravity treadmill [2].
The investment wasn't limited to equipment alone — it also covered the expansion of the cardiology department, oncological neurosurgery, and the angiography labs [2]. That means the new equipment is being installed into modernized infrastructure that lets it be used to its full potential, both in imaging diagnostics and in minimally invasive procedures.
This is a good example of how KPO funds are ceasing to be an abstract line in a budget and are starting to physically change the diagnostic capabilities of Polish hospitals — and a 256-slice CT scanner is, today, one of the highest standards available on the market. It's also worth tying this back to our first topic: even the best CT scanner gains extra value once its images feed into CAD systems and the kind of interpretation-support algorithms covered in the DelveInsight report.
Summary
Summary
This week is a good illustration of how the development of imaging diagnostics is now playing out on two fronts at once — in the labs and companies building diagnostic software, and on hospital wards, where a new generation of scanners is being installed. Both of these threads — global medical software markets and local hardware investments — will be among the key topics at Forum Diagnostyki Obrazowej 2026 (Targi Technologii i Sprzętu dla Medycznej Diagnostyki Obrazowej). Stay tuned for the next installments of our roundup, and come visit the trade fair, where equipment manufacturers and AI software vendors will showcase their latest solutions live.
Invitation
From global diagnostic software markets to concrete rollouts of new CT scanners in Polish hospitals — you'll find these topics live at Forum Diagnostyki Obrazowej 2026. It's the place where imaging equipment manufacturers and CAD algorithm developers showcase their solutions under one roof. Join the conversation about the future of radiology and see, in person, the equipment you're currently only reading about in reports.
Forum Diagnostyki Obrazowej 2026Footnotes
[1] GlobeNewswire / DelveInsight — https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/09/29/3371233/0/en/global-software-as-a-medical-device-market-to-observe-stupendous-growth-at-a-cagr-of-17-by-2034-delveinsight.html[2] Radio Lublin — https://radio.lublin.pl/2026/09/szpital-mswia-po-modernizacji-nowy-sprzet-i-wieksze-mozliwosci-zdjecia/
This review was prepared by the Ptak Warsaw Expo editorial team.