UEA professor says AI could help the NHS overcome it's radiologist "workforce crisis"
A pilot study in the UK from a tech company found that it had the potential to sort normal chest X-rays- with close to 100% accuracy
Last updated 4th Aug 2023
A professor from the UEA is telling us that Artificial intelligence could help the NHS overcome it's radiologist "workforce crisis".
It's after a pilot study in the UK from a tech company found that it had the potential to sort normal chest X-rays- with close to 100% accuracy.
But experts are warning that building trust in the technology is an important step for it to become a normal part of our health service.
What did this work involve?
Technology company Qure AI developed its platforms to interpret the likes of X-rays, CT scans and ultrasounds to free up clinicians' time.
AI is currently being used in the NHS to read mammograms and is helping doctors to diagnose strokes faster.
Last month, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) published a collection of 10 studies exploring the use of AI in various parts of the health service.
These included detecting heart disease through "smart stethoscopes", as well as using AI to predict disease progression and personalise cancer care.
"I think scientists are very aware right now"
Beatriz De La Iglesia works in the school of Computing Sciences at the University of East Anglia.
She says it will also be able to help out other medical departments, moving forwards:
"For example, it could be used in the identification of cancers. It's a very important part of healthcare and it could be used to analyse images, along with text and information. You have dementia as well- where specific tools can be used to identify it early."
She went on tell us how decision-makers can reduce people's worries about this:
"What you can have is very strong regulation, if you live in a country where it's key. From this you develop good checks to make sure that it's working within a good framework and that it's ethical.
"I think scientists are very aware right now about the importance of ethics when it comes to data science and machine learning."
"There are general concerns and these are valid concerns"
"If you have a tool like Artificial Intelligence that can actually do a lot of the tedious, looking at images and areas of concerns- and you put that in the hands of a qualified radiologist- you can make them focus on the really important areas, and you could improve the bottleneck in radiology.
"There are general concerns and these are valid concerns. I think there are concerns about any new technology.
"It's always going to have good and bad uses and so we are always going to be aware that bad actors are going to try and use it in a negative way, and I think that's unavoidable."
How is AI being used in the NHS, right now?
The Government say they've invested over £120 million in rolling out AI technology across the NHS.
Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said:
"Artificial intelligence has the potential to speed up diagnoses and treatments and free up time for our doctors and nurses so they can focus on caring for patients.
"Around 300,000 people have already benefited from companies supported by our AI awards, with tens of thousands more set to benefit."