Foundation Models in Medical Image Analysis: Overview and Prospects

Foundation models have emerged as remarkable tools in medical image analysis leading to a new era of smart healthcare and offering sophisticated capabilities to enhance diagnostic accuracy, treatment planning, and patient outcomes. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the current standing and future prospects of foundation models in the field of medical imaging. We briefly highlight some applications across diverse imaging modalities such as MRI, CT, and ultrasound and discuss limitations and challenges. Future prospective and research directions are discussed to guide future exploration.