A university hospital plans an AI-based video colonoscopy system with patient management, reflecting wider public investment in digital cancer diagnostics.
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A Romanian university of medicine and pharmacy plans to buy an artificial-intelligence-enabled video colonoscopy system with a built-in patient management module, aiming to strengthen colorectal cancer prevention, detection and diagnosis under a regional health project. The move highlights how public hospitals in Central and Eastern Europe are pairing endoscopy hardware upgrades with digital tools and AI.
On 9th December 2025, Universitatea de Medicină și Farmacie din Craiova published a contract notice for a video colonoscopy system with artificial intelligence and a patient management module. According to the notice, the system is needed to enhance equipment for colorectal cancer prevention, detection and diagnosis as part of a regional health project.
By specifying both artificial intelligence and patient management capabilities, the buyer signals an interest in combining image-based decision support with better handling of patient data along the colorectal cancer pathway. The system is positioned not just as a tool for individual procedures, but as part of a broader effort to support prevention, early detection and diagnostic confirmation within a regional programme.
Most recent endoscopy tenders in the region have focused on imaging hardware and accessories without explicit AI components. In July 2025, for example, Nemocnice Šumperk a.s. in the Czech Republic launched a tender for a video colonoscopy tower with equipment and accessories for its gastroenterology department, including transportation, installation, staff training, warranty service and waste disposal, but without any mention of AI. In September 2025, Viešoji įstaiga Prienų ligoninė in Lithuania sought to buy a single video colonoscope, while in October 2025 Vilnius city authorities planned to acquire two colonoscopes. Against this backdrop, explicitly AI-enabled colonoscopy equipment remains the exception rather than the rule.
The Craiova project sits within a clear regional push to reinforce colorectal cancer screening and diagnosis through new equipment. In July 2025, Bulgaria’s Ministry of Health issued a tender to supply medical devices and in vitro diagnostic products for colorectal and cervical cancer screening programmes, split over two lots. The focus on screening programmes at national level underscores the importance attached to early detection.
Further west, in October 2025, Fakultní nemocnice Brno in the Czech Republic launched a procurement for colorectal cancer screening equipment and accessories for its internal gastroenterology clinic. In Romania, the Regional Oncology Institute in Iasi plans to acquire videocolonoscopes and videogastroscopes under its Onco-Permed project. These oncology-driven procurements show how colonoscopy capacity is being expanded within dedicated cancer initiatives as well as within general hospitals.
At the same time, smaller providers are refreshing their endoscopy kits. Alongside the Lithuanian municipal and district purchases, VšĮ Plungės ligoninė in Lithuania moved in October 2025 to procure a video colonoscope. In Poland, Copernicus PL Sp. z o.o. in Gdańsk launched an August 2025 tender to buy endoscopic vision systems and a range of video scopes, including gastroscopes, colonoscopes and duodenoscopes, with defined quality and regulatory requirements.
Other hospitals are pairing colorectal imaging with broader diagnostic and treatment capabilities. In October 2025, a Romanian clinical hospital in Bucharest sought to procure advanced equipment in four lots, including a portable video rectoscopy system, a percutaneous imaging guidance system with microwave ablation, a full computed tomography system and integrated equipment for liver transplant and surgery. Here, colorectal imaging is one piece of a much wider diagnostic and interventional platform.
Against this landscape, the Craiova tender reinforces the centrality of colorectal cancer services in regional investment plans, but distinguishes itself by foregrounding AI and patient management as core elements of the equipment package.
The emphasis on AI in the Craiova notice mirrors a wider shift towards data-driven imaging in the region. In November 2025, Spitalul Clinic Judetean de Urgenta „Pius Brinzeu" Timisoara advertised a contract for an AI-based software module to automatically analyse chest X-rays and lung CT scans, with the aim of increasing accuracy and efficiency in radiology. Earlier, in July 2025, the Emergency Clinical Hospital for Children Louis Ţurcanu in Timisoara launched a procurement for an integrated PACS information system and related IT equipment to manage medical imaging and support the hospital’s digitalisation.
Underlying these clinical systems are investments in core IT infrastructure. In October 2025, Nexus Media srl issued a tender for servers, PCs, laptops and multifunctional devices to build the IT backbone for the PIONIER AI initiative. In Prague, Fakultní nemocnice Královské Vinohrady has gone out to market for an integrated smart operating room system including video management, recording and streaming devices, medical monitors and integration with existing hospital systems.
Together, these notices show AI and digital platforms spreading across imaging-heavy specialties: radiology, paediatric care, operating theatres and now gastroenterology. Whereas the Timisoara radiology project layers AI software onto existing imaging modalities, the Craiova colonoscopy procurement combines hardware, AI and patient management into a single acquisition. That structure suggests a desire to embed digital tools directly into front-line clinical workflows rather than treating them as separate IT add-ons.
The region’s recent endoscopy and surgical imaging tenders also point to a shift from purchasing stand-alone devices towards acquiring integrated systems with associated services. In July 2025, Opća bolnica Dr. Josip Benčević Slavonski Brod in Croatia launched a procurement for an endoscopic tower, video colonoscope and video gastroscope, bundling delivery, installation, training and accessories into a single contract. A similar approach appears in October 2025 at the Bulgarian hospital „Dr. Nikola Vasiliev", which is seeking a video endoscopy system for gastroenterology including delivery, installation, commissioning, staff training and warranty service.
Czech hospitals show the same pattern. In September 2025, Fakultní nemocnice Olomouc announced a tender to supply, install and commission various endoscopes for its gastroenterology and geriatrics clinic, complete with accessories, warranty service and staff training. Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice v Praze is similarly procuring a video system for endoscopic surgery dedicated to one of its operating rooms. In Italy, ASST della Brianza plans to equip its operating block in Desio with a video laparoscopy column and consumables.
Some buyers are coupling imaging upgrades to high-profile clinical technology projects. In December 2025, Spitalul Clinic „Prof.Dr.Th.Burghele" in Romania launched a tender for a minimally invasive robot-assisted surgery system, including supply, installation, commissioning, staff training and warranty, framed as part of a health programme project. Earlier, the Emergency Hospital of Petrosani sought to acquire CT and MRI scanners under an infrastructure investment project.
Within this wider move towards integrated solutions, the Craiova university’s decision to seek a colonoscopy system that combines AI, imaging and patient management, and to position it within a regional health project, aligns with a pattern of using single procurements to secure equipment, software and associated services in one package.
The Craiova notice is concise, and many technical and integration requirements are not visible from the summary alone. Even so, the explicit pairing of artificial intelligence with a patient management module in a colonoscopy system marks a notable development in public-sector imaging procurement in the region.
Looking across 2025, tenders for colorectal screening equipment, endoscopy towers, smart operating rooms, AI imaging software and supporting IT infrastructure suggest that digital endoscopy and AI-assisted diagnostics will remain active themes in Central and Eastern European healthcare investment. Future procurements will indicate whether AI becomes a common expectation in new colonoscopy systems, as it is starting to appear in radiology and surgical theatres.
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