AI system can now diagnose heart disease and cancer early, could save NHS billions
Researchers in the UK have developed a new AI system that they claim could save billions of pounds.
Marcos Fernandez via Flickr CC
Researchers in the UK have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) system that they claim could save billions of pounds by diagnosing heart disease and lung cancer much more accurately and early.
A new AI system created at the John Radcliffe Hospital in the UK diagnoses heart scans much more accurately. It can pick up details in the scans that doctors cannot see.
AI early diagnosis of cancer and heart patient could save NHS billions. - Sir John Bell
Currently cardiologists can tell from the timing of the heartbeat in scans if the patient suffers from heart diseases. However, twenty percent of the times, even the best doctors get it wrong. Patients are either sent home and have a heart attack or are adviced to undergo an unnecessary operation.
However now, a new AI system, created at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital can diagnose heart scans much earlier and with much greater accuracy. The system can pick up details in the scans that doctors cannot see. The system then provides a recommendation – positive – which means that it believes that there is a risk of the patient having a heart attack.
A new AI system, created at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital can diagnose heart scans much earlier and with much greater accuracy.
According to BBC News, the system called Ultromics has been tested in clinical trials in six cardiology units. Prof Paul Leeson, who developed the system, said the data indicates that the system has greatly outperformed his fellow heart specialists.
Ultromics, was trained to identify potential problems by being fed the scans of 1,000 patients who Leeson had treated over the past seven years, along with information about whether they went on to have heart problems.
Meanwhile noted geneticist Sir John Bell, told BBC News that AI could "save the NHS". "There is about £2.2bn spent on pathology services in the NHS,” Bell said. “You may be able to reduce that by 50 per cent. AI may be the thing that saves the NHS.”
In the UK, out of the 60,000 heart scans carried out each year, 12,000 are reportedly misdiagnosed at an estimated cost of £600million. AI technology will start to be available to NHS hospitals for free this summer.
