How AI is used in FDA-authorized medical devices: a taxonomy across 1,016 authorizations.

Singh, Rohan; Bapna, Monika; Diab, Abdul Rahman; Ruiz, Emily S; Lotter, William · NPJ Digit Med · 2025

review · Level V

Where this comes from

Abstract

We reviewed 1016 FDA authorizations of AI/ML-enabled medical devices to develop a taxonomy capturing key variations in clinical and AI-related features. Quantitative image analysis remains the most common application, but its relative proportion has declined recently. Over 100 devices leverage AI for data generation, though none yet involve LLMs. Our taxonomy clarifies current AI usage in medical devices and provides a foundation for tracking developments as applications evolve.