Effortless anonymisation for AI development: a success story at National Imaging Academy Wales
The challenge: a data bottleneck in AI development
National Imaging Academy Wales (NIAW) is a hub for training, innovation and research, facilitating increased radiologist training capacity and supporting training of clinicians for NHS Wales in many aspects of diagnostic imaging. The imaging academy has had an increasing role in AI developments since opening in 2018, currently hosting a programme of evaluation/validation to inform successful implementation of AI image interpretation tools in clinical service. However, despite the growing need for training and validating AI models, one issue repeatedly slowed progress: the anonymisation of medical image data.
“Obtaining large datasets to train and evaluate AI tools is a real challenge—it’s so labour-intensive unless you have a bulk anonymiser,” — Dr Phillip Wardle – director, National Imaging Academy Wales
Without automation, anonymisation became a manual, time-consuming process that drains staff time and has delayed research efforts.
The solution: BriX from Rosenfield Health
Having partnered with Rosenfield Health on several radiology innovation projects, the imaging academy immediately recognised the value of BriX, a vendor-neutral bulk anonymiser purpose-built for education, AI training, and research.
“It’s by far the most comprehensive solution we’ve seen. To use it was a no-brainer.” — May 2025.
With built-in support for DICOM header and pixel data anonymisation, BriX also offers multi-anonymisation profiles, pseudo-anonymisation, and scheduled batch processing—ideal for busy radiology environments.
Deployment and results: 6,000+ cases in one week
The results were immediate and impressive. After a rapid deployment by the IT team, the academy used BriX to anonymise 6,000 studies in one week, freeing up valuable staff time with one study only taking about 30 seconds!
“We have been able to anonymise thousands of studies with a much-reduced toll on our team.”
The tool’s ease of use and automation capabilities meant that anonymisation tasks that previously took weeks could now be completed in hours—without the need for manual re-scanning or editing.
National impact on radiology research
BriX is now fully integrated, the Imaging Academy’s anonymisation workflow now supports radiology research efforts not just at NIAW, but across NHS Wales Radiology.
“BriX is now integrated at the National Imaging Academy. The tool is not just supporting NIAW’s day to day work but also helping with projects across NHS Wales Imaging.”
Significantly reducing the time and effort required to prepare imaging datasets, BriX empowers NIAW to support both educators and researchers to pursue AI innovation without infrastructure limitations.
About BriX
Rosenfield Health’s vendor-neutral bulk anonymisation solution is trusted by NHS trusts, imaging academies, and research organisations. Whether for training, validation, or compliance, BriX automates anonymisation at scale—handling everything from DICOM headers to pixel burn-ins—without compromising on security or speed.
🌐 Learn more: rosenfieldhealth.com/products/brix-product
About Rosenfield Health
Since 2016, Rosenfield Health has delivered vendor-neutral tools that improve radiology workflows and reduce administrative burdens. From teaching file management to peer review and anonymisation, Rosenfield solutions are trusted by the NHS and healthcare organisations across 8+ countries.
🌐 Learn more: rosenfieldhealth.com
This news story has been sponsored by the companies concerned and does not represent the views or opinions of RAD Magazine.
