Diagnostics & imaging AI · Radiology reporting
Jacobian
Jacobian makes radiology reporting software that combines Fluency for Imaging speech recognition with Smart Reporting's guideline-based structured templates and AI report drafting.
Strong fit
- Radiology groups and health systems that want speech recognition and structured reporting from one vendor
- Current Fluency for Imaging customers planning their next reporting upgrade
- Departments that want report templates to follow guidelines without slowing radiologists down
Weak fit
- Groups that want a full cloud PACS and worklist from the same vendor
- Buyers who want an AI impression generator first and dictation second
- Buyers who need a published price list
Bottom line
Jacobian is the company formed when Smart Reporting, a structured radiology reporting company from Munich, Germany, bought Fluency for Imaging, the speech recognition product built by M*Modal. It sells dictation, structured templates, and AI drafting in one reporting workflow. It fits radiology departments that want to keep a proven dictation product and add guideline-based templates over time.
Score breakdown
Weights: Outcomes 35% · Product 30% · Implementation 20% · Pricing clarity 15%.
Wieland Sommer, a radiologist at LMU University Hospital in Munich, Germany, founded Smart Reporting in 2014 as a spinoff of the university.
Its software gives radiologists templates that follow clinical guidelines. A report on a lung nodule or a prostate MRI lists the findings a referring doctor needs in a set order.
Siemens Healthineers, GE HealthCare, and Canon have all distributed Smart Reporting. In April 2024 it raised a €23 million Series C led by TVM Capital Life Science, bringing total funding past €50 million.
Before the merger it had more than 80 employees, and more than 16,000 physicians in more than 90 countries used its software.
In October 2025 Smart Reporting agreed to buy Fluency for Imaging from Solventum, and the deal closed at the end of December 2025.
Fluency for Imaging is the radiology speech recognition product that M*Modal built and 3M later owned. KLAS ranked it first in front-end speech recognition for the fifth year in a row in 2026.
The combined company took the name Jacobian, with offices in Munich and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Michael Finke, a co-founder of M*Modal, is its CEO. Its products handle more than 80 million radiology reports a year in North America, Europe, and Australia.
Rad AI fits a group that wants AI to draft the impression from the findings. Sirona Medical fits a group that wants reporting, worklist, and image viewing in one cloud workspace.
New Lantern fits a smaller group that wants a reading platform built around AI. RADPAIR fits a group that wants a newer voice-driven reporting tool at a lower starting cost.
Competitor landscape
| Vendor | Overall | Ease of implementation |
|---|---|---|
| Jacobian | 7.8 | 7.2 |
| Rad AI | 7.7 | 7.2 |
| Sirona Medical | 7.5 | 6.9 |
| New Lantern | 7.2 | 7.2 |
| RADPAIR | 6.9 | 7.5 |
Pricing
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Model | A custom contract quoted by Jacobian. |
| What usually drives cost | The number of radiologists or reading licenses, report volume, which modules you use (speech recognition, structured templates, AI drafting), and connections to your image and radiology systems. |
| What to ask before you buy | The price per radiologist or per exam, the cost of moving from Fluency for Imaging to the combined product, and limits on price increases in later years. |
| Published pricing | Jacobian does not publish a price list. |
Prerequisites for purchase
| Need | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| What you need to get Jacobian to function | |
| A radiology informatics lead | Templates and dictation settings need an owner. |
| A plan to connect the image and radiology systems | Reports open from the reading worklist. |
| Radiologist champions in each section | Templates spread through peer use. |
| A list of report types to put into templates first | Some reports gain more from templates than others. |
| Starting turnaround times | This shows whether speed changes. |
| What will maximize your value | |
| Start templates with high-volume studies | Chest CT and MRI reports repeat most. |
| Keep dictation habits during the switch | Radiologists adopt faster when speech works the same. |
| Review template use each month | Unused templates point to problems in how people work. |
| Deal-breakers | |
| No informatics owner | |
| You want to replace your whole image system | |
| Radiologists will not use any template | |
Value creation time frame
| # | Stage | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Contract, security review, and connection to image and radiology systems | 1-3 months |
| 2 | First sections live | 2-4 months |
| 3 | Templates across the department | 6-12 months |
Leadership
Methodology
| Weight | Factor | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| 35% | Customer outcomes | Whether buyers get measurable operational or clinical-workflow results after go-live |
| 30% | Product | Capability depth, reliability, and fit for the job the category buys |
| 20% | Implementation | How hard it is to stand up, integrate, train, and stabilize |
| 15% | Pricing clarity | Whether a buyer can model total cost without a mystery quote |
| Label | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Highly recommend | Strong outcomes and product with manageable caveats |
| Recommend | Solid fit for the right buyer; know the tradeoffs |
| Conditional | Only with a specific use case or heavy caveats |
| Not recommended | Avoid for most buyers in this category |
Read our full methodology for how we weight scores and assign recommend labels.