What Subtle Medical does

Subtle Medical, Inc. is a Menlo Park, California-based medical imaging AI company founded in 2017 by Stanford researchers Enhao Gong, PhD and Greg Zaharchuk, MD, PhD. The company develops vendor-neutral deep learning software that enhances the quality and efficiency of MRI, PET, and CT imaging across all major scanner manufacturers. Its core technology uses proprietary convolutional neural networks and generative AI models to perform image reconstruction, denoising, synthesis, and harmonization, deployed natively on NVIDIA GPU infrastructure. The product portfolio includes Subtle-ELITE (an integrated MRI package bundling SubtleHD(MR), SubtleSYNTH, and SubtleALIGN), standalone SubtleHD variants for PET and CT, the AiMIFY contrast-enhancement solution developed with Bracco, and R&D-stage products including SubtleGAD (gadolinium-dose reduction with Bayer) and SubtleNG (a vision-language foundation model for MRI metadata harmonization).

The company's primary revenue model is SaaS subscription to hospitals and imaging centers, with pricing aligned to scanner deployments across its installed base of 1,300+ scanners and 600+ US sites imaging 2.5 million patients annually. Secondary revenue streams include OEM licensing royalties (notably with Siemens Healthineers) and pharmaceutical industry co-development partnerships (Bracco for AiMIFY, Bayer for SubtleGAD). The go-to-market is enterprise field sales to hospital systems and radiology groups, supplemented by group purchasing contracts (Strategic Radiology, Vizient) and channel partners (Hospiline in Latin America). The company has secured 11 FDA 510(k) clearances, EU MDR CE Marking, Health Canada, ANVISA, and UK MHRA approvals, plus ISO 13485/MDSAP and ISO/IEC 42001 AI Management System certifications, enabling commercial sales across the US, EU, UK, Canada, Brazil, Chile, China (100+ hospitals), and planned APAC expansion. Following a $33 million Series C led by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital in June 2026, Subtle Medical had raised approximately $86 million in cumulative capital and brought in industry veteran Ohad Arazi (formerly CEO of Zebra Medical Vision and Clarius, and an 11-year McKesson/Change Healthcare executive) as CEO to lead its next phase of global enterprise expansion.

Name

Subtle Medical

Legal name

Subtle Medical, Inc.

Website

https://subtlemedical.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Subtle Medical develops vendor-neutral AI software that enhances MRI, PET, and CT image quality and accelerates scan times, serving hospitals, imaging centers, and OEM partners across 1,300+ scanner deployments worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Medical Imaging AI Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (3345)

SIC

Surgical & Medical Instruments & Apparatus (3841)

akta.pro primary industry

SaMD – Imaging & Signal Analysis (AI/ML) (HLACANAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Medical Imaging AI (HDAAAEAH), Radiology AI, CAD & Advanced Visualization Software (HLAHABAJ), AI Orchestration & Imaging Analytics Platforms (Model Management/Triage) (HLACALAG)

Keywords

• Medical imaging AI
• Deep learning radiology
• MRI image enhancement
• PET image acceleration
• AI image denoising

Headquarters

HQ city

Menlo Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. SaaS Subscription to Hospitals and Imaging Centers: Primary revenue stream - Subtle Medical primarily offers AI solutions as SaaS or software systems to hospitals and imaging centers in the United States, Europe, and Latin America. Recurring subscription model aligned with scanner deployments (over 1,300 scanners worldwide).
2. OEM Licensing (e.g., Siemens Healthineers): Subtle Medical is contracted by medical imaging equipment manufacturers such as Siemens Healthineers to embed Subtle's AI solutions and platform, providing licensing royalties for workflow, quality, and efficiency enhancements in MRI and PET imaging.
3. Pharmaceutical Industry Partnerships (Bayer, Bracco): Revenue from co-development agreements with pharmaceutical companies. Bracco's AiMIFY™ is manufactured for Bracco Diagnostics Inc. by Subtle Medical Inc. (OEM/white-label arrangement). Bayer is collaborating on SubtleGAD™ clinical development. These partnerships leverage Subtle's AI solutions for contrast and radiopharmaceutical applications.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Core offering

Subtle Medical develops vendor-neutral deep learning software that enhances medical image quality and accelerates scan times across MRI, PET, and CT modalities. Its products use convolutional neural networks and generative AI to perform denoising, sharpening, synthetic contrast generation, and automated alignment on existing scanners without requiring new hardware. Solutions are deployed on more than 1,300 scanners worldwide, with the flagship Subtle-ELITE package bundling three FDA-cleared MRI tools.

Product overview

Subtle Medical operates a multi-modality, vendor-neutral AI imaging platform rather than a single unified product, organized around an evolving AI Imaging Hub strategy. The portfolio spans MRI, PET, and CT workflows through distinct AI software products: the Subtle-ELITE package bundles three FDA-cleared MRI tools (SubtleHD(MR) for denoising/sharpening with up to 80% faster scans, SubtleSYNTH for synthetic STIR contrast generation with 100% acceleration, and SubtleALIGN for automated brain MR alignment); standalone products SubtleHD(PET) and SubtleHD(CT) extend the same AI image enhancement paradigm to PET and CT modalities respectively. Legacy products SubtleMR and SubtlePET remain deployed globally, while AiMIFY is a partner-distributed AI contrast enhancement product sold by Bracco. R&D pipeline products include SubtleGAD (reduced gadolinium dose synthesis with Bayer), SubtleREFORMAT (MRI data harmonization), SubtleALLY (workflow automation), and SubtleNG (vision-language foundation model for metadata standardization). Together these products are designed to integrate seamlessly across manufacturer-agnostic scanner fleets, replacing fragmented point solutions with a single AI infrastructure layer for radiology.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SubtleHD™: AI-powered denoising and sharpening solution for MRI, PET, and CT imaging enhancement, enabling up to 80% faster scan times. Includes SubtleHD(MR), SubtleHD(PET), and SubtleHD(CT) variants.
• SubtleSYNTH™
• SubtleALIGN™
• SubtlePET™
• SubtleMR™
• SubtleGAD™
• Subtle-ELITE™
• SubtleREFORMAT™
• SubtleNG™

Products and services

• Subtle-ELITE Industry-first integrated AI-powered MRI package that combines three FDA-cleared software tools — SubtleHD(MR), SubtleSYNTH, and SubtleALIGN — designed to dramatically improve MRI image quality, reduce scan times, and eliminate manual work through deep learning image processing. Targeted at hospitals and imaging centers.
• SubtleHD(MR) AI-powered denoising and sharpening software for ultra-clear MRI images, enabling up to 80% faster scan times on some sequences. Vendor-neutral across all body parts, sequences, and contrasts. FDA-cleared and CE-marked. Targeted at radiology departments.
• SubtleSYNTH AI-generated MR imaging contrasts that synthesize STIR images from existing T1 and T2 weighted sequences with zero additional acquisition time, achieving 100% acceleration. First FDA-cleared AI solution for synthetic imaging. Targeted at MRI imaging centers.
• SubtleALIGN AI-powered automation of brain MR alignment to ideal anatomical position, reducing manual adjustments and improving consistency across longitudinal studies. Supports 3D brain sequences. Part of the Subtle-ELITE package. Targeted at neuroradiology practices.
• SubtleHD(PET) AI-powered image enhancement software for low-count PET imaging, denoising PET acquisitions across existing PET, PET/CT, and PET/MR scanners. Enables up to 75% faster PET imaging and supports all FDA-approved radiotracers. Targeted at nuclear medicine and PET centers.
• SubtleHD(CT) AI-powered denoising software for ultra-clear CT images that reduces noise and improves image clarity across different CT scanner generations. Helps healthcare providers enhance imaging quality from existing CT infrastructure without requiring new hardware. Targeted at radiology departments.
• SubtleMR First-to-market AI-powered MRI image enhancement software, FDA 510(k) cleared in October 2019, enabling up to 60% faster MRI acquisition. Now superseded by SubtleHD(MR) but still deployed globally on vendor-neutral MRI scanners.
• SubtlePET First FDA-cleared AI-powered PET image enhancement software, enabling faster, lower-dose PET imaging. Now superseded by SubtleHD(PET) but still deployed across numerous PET scanners worldwide. Targeted at PET imaging centers.
• AiMIFY AI-powered contrast enhancement software for brain MR images, exclusively developed with Bracco using Subtle Medical technology. Selectively amplifies brain lesion visualization for up to double the visibility of FDA-approved gadolinium doses (GBCAs). FDA-cleared as Class II SaMD. Sold by Bracco as the commercial distributor.
• SubtleGAD Investigational AI-powered contrast enhancement technology that synthesizes full-dose contrast-enhanced images from reduced gadolinium doses, with research demonstrating potential for up to 90% gadolinium dose reduction while maintaining diagnostic image quality. In active clinical development with Bayer.

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability9 records

Feature7 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Aidoc: Aidoc provides an AI-powered radiology platform with FDA-cleared algorithms for triage and workflow across CT and MRI. It directly competes with Subtle Medical for enterprise hospital imaging AI contracts and uses a similar SaaS/deployment model across hospital systems.
• RapidAI: RapidAI offers AI software for neuroimaging and stroke workflow, with FDA-cleared image analysis across MRI and CT. It shares Subtle Medical's hospital-channel enterprise sales motion and vendor-neutral integration model for radiology AI.
• Viz.ai: Viz.ai develops AI-powered clinical workflow and image analysis for stroke and other time-sensitive conditions, deployed across hospital networks. It competes with Subtle Medical in the same hospital imaging AI category with FDA-cleared products and similar enterprise sales motion.
• Arterys: Arterys offers a cloud-native AI medical imaging platform with FDA-cleared products for MRI and CT, using deep learning for image quantification and workflow. Its SaaS model, modality focus, and regulatory track record closely mirror Subtle Medical's positioning.
• Zebra Medical Vision (Nanox): Zebra Medical Vision, now part of Nanox, developed AI imaging algorithms for radiology across multiple modalities and was previously led by Subtle Medical's new CEO Ohad Arazi. It is highly comparable in product strategy and customer base.

Broad incumbents

• Siemens Healthineers: Siemens Healthineers is both a partner (OEM licensing Subtle's AI) and a competitor through its AI-Rad Companion platform embedded in its MRI and CT scanners. Its installed-base reach and bundled AI strategy represent the largest incumbent threat to Subtle's vendor-neutral model.
• GE HealthCare: GE HealthCare's Edison AI platform bundles imaging AI directly into its MRI, CT, and PET scanners, competing with Subtle Medical across hospital accounts. Several Subtle Medical executives (CTO, Head of Clinical) are former GE Healthcare leaders, reflecting the close competitive and talent dynamics.
• Philips: Philips offers AI-enabled imaging solutions across its MRI, CT, and PET/CT installed base and competes broadly with Subtle Medical for hospital imaging AI budget. Subtle Medical's CCO and Head of North America Sales are former Philips executives.
• Canon Medical Systems (AiCE): Canon Medical's AiCE deep learning reconstruction is embedded in its CT and MRI scanners, directly competing with SubtleHD for acceleration and denoising workloads. As a scanner OEM bundling AI, Canon represents an incumbent channel-conflict risk.

Emerging players

• United Imaging Intelligence: United Imaging Intelligence develops AI applications across its parent company's MRI, CT, and PET scanner lines, with strong presence in China. It overlaps with Subtle Medical's product portfolio and is a relevant emerging competitor especially across APAC.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SubtleMedical
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCSjsgz4N9WHIYT3_5-ylYJw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/subtlemedical
• Instagraminstagram.com/subtlemedical

Compliance14 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds12 records

Investors22 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Subtle Medical