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A groundbreaking artificial intelligence (AI) technology that reduces the waiting time for cancer patients to start radiotherapy will be made available at cost price to all NHS trusts in England.
Developed by experts at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, the Institute of Cancer Research in London, and Imperial College London, this AI tool has the potential to transform cancer care by swiftly identifying cancerous growths found on CT scans.
Cancer remains a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for nearly one in six deaths, with early detection and prompt treatment playing a crucial role in successful outcomes.
In Nigeria alone, where an estimated 102,000 new cases of cancer are reported annually, the disease is responsible for 72,000 deaths each year, according to the National Cancer Control Plan (2018–2022).
The new AI technology has been a decade in the making, with researchers at Addenbrooke’s Hospital collaborating with Microsoft to train the AI program using radiomics.
By analyzing CT scans of approximately 500 patients with large lung nodules, the AI algorithm can extract critical information from medical images that may go unnoticed by the human eye.
Through rigorous testing, the AI model demonstrated its ability to accurately identify the risk of cancer in each nodule, achieving an impressive area under the curve (AUC) score of 0.87 and outperforming the current clinical test, the Brock score (0.67), and comparable to the Herder score (0.83).
Additionally, the AI program operates at a speed two and a half times faster than human doctors, significantly reducing the time required for treatment planning.
President of the Royal College of Radiologists Dr. Katharine Halliday, expressed enthusiasm for the potential of AI in diagnostics and cancer therapy. She emphasized the complementary role of AI alongside clinical radiologists, stating, “While AI shows great promise and will certainly help free up time for a workforce under strain, it cannot replace highly trained and skilled professionals.”
The AI program, called InnerEye, was developed in collaboration with the NHS Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, which provided £500,000 in funding for necessary safety checks and evaluations. The accuracy rate of the AI program is estimated to be around 90%, with clinicians approving its work without corrections in about two-thirds of cases.
This groundbreaking AI technology marks a significant milestone in cancer care, and will now be made accessible to other NHS trusts through a manufacturer, ensuring wider access to the cloud-based platform at cost price.