After an injury, a persistent pain, or a routine check-up, your doctor orders an X-ray or MRI. Days later, a report arrives — and it reads like it was written in another language.
"Mild degenerative changes noted at L4-L5. No acute osseous abnormality. Disc desiccation observed with mild posterior disc bulge. No significant neural foraminal stenosis."
For the radiologist who wrote this, every word is precise and meaningful. For you, it is a wall of unfamiliar terminology that raises more questions than it answers.
This disconnect between medical reporting and patient understanding is one of the most persistent gaps in modern healthcare. Radiology reports are among the most technically dense documents patients encounter — and they are almost never written with the patient as the intended reader.
Understanding the general structure of these reports can help demystify them:
A typical X-ray report includes:
The Impression section is usually the most important part for understanding the overall result. It distils the detailed findings into a clinical conclusion.
MRI reports follow a similar structure but tend to be more detailed because MRI provides significantly more information than X-ray:
MRI reports frequently include measurements, comparisons to prior imaging, and descriptions of signal intensity — all of which add to the complexity for non-medical readers.
Here are some frequently encountered radiology terms and what they actually mean:
Radiology reports have a unique capacity to generate anxiety. Unlike blood tests where numbers can be compared to reference ranges, imaging reports describe findings qualitatively — and the language can sound alarming even when the findings are clinically insignificant.
Consider these examples:
Without context, patients can spend days or weeks worrying about findings that their doctor would consider unremarkable.
AI-powered analysis tools are bridging the gap between radiology language and patient understanding:
Upload your X-ray or MRI image and receive a summary that explains the findings in everyday terms. Instead of "mild posterior disc bulge at L4-L5 without significant neural foraminal stenosis," you get an explanation that a disc in your lower back is slightly protruding but is not pressing on any nerves — a common finding that often does not require treatment.
The AI identifies the anatomical region shown in the image, helping you understand what part of the body was examined and what the radiologist was looking for.
One of the most valuable aspects of AI analysis is normalising findings. The AI can explain that certain observations are extremely common, age-appropriate, or clinically insignificant — reducing unnecessary anxiety while still flagging findings that deserve follow-up.
After reviewing your report, the AI suggests targeted questions to ask your doctor:
These questions ensure you walk into your next appointment prepared and focused.
Transparency matters. AI radiology analysis has clear boundaries:
Radiology imaging is one of the most powerful diagnostic tools in medicine. X-rays and MRI scans give doctors a window into your body that no physical examination can match. But that power is diminished when patients cannot understand their own results.
By making radiology reports accessible, we are not undermining the role of radiologists and doctors — we are strengthening the patient-provider relationship. When patients understand their imaging results, they can:
Upload an X-ray or MRI to Symplicured and see how AI transforms a dense radiology report into clear, understandable insights:
Your imaging results were meant to inform — not confuse. AI is making sure they do both.
Symplicured's AI analyses X-rays, MRI scans, and CT scans in seconds, delivering plain-language summaries you can actually understand. Upload your imaging report and get clarity, not confusion. Start here.
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