Artificial intelligence (AI) can save many lives by diagnosing strokes early or detecting heart attacks and cancer quickly.
Last year, the British Government spent $26 million to support the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based technology in healthcare. The British National Health Service (NHS) has also established an AI laboratory.
Tara Donnelly, former chief digital officer of the NHS, is the founder of Digital Care Health Consulting, which helps the NHS scale its technology sector.
AI brings many benefits to the medical industry. Illustration photo: QBD
“Almost every week there is exciting news about the potential breakthrough of AI in the health sector. For example, at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, the AI system can recommend the correct referral decision for more than 50 types of diseases with 94% accuracy, consistent with the judgments of the world’s leading experts.” , the director shared.
Ms Donnelly said: “The UK is a great place to train AI for healthcare purposes because people from all over the world flock to our cities. The more diverse the data set, the more accurate it is to create AI that works for everyone. We are seeing improvements in stroke care, eye disease and mammography.”
The expert revealed that AI technology is saving many lives and will continue to do so in the future.
Stroke
More than 111,000 suspected stroke patients benefited in 2023. This year, tens of thousands of stroke patients in the UK are expected to be treated more quickly thanks to AI-based diagnostic technology. Patients who come to one of 11 networks nationwide can have their brain scan results quickly evaluated using The Brainomix e-Stroke system. According to The Sunthe number of patients recovering from stroke increased threefold.
Lung cancer
Every month, the NHS carries out around 600,000 chest X-rays, often to diagnose lung cancer – the leading cause of cancer deaths in the UK. Now, X-rays run through AI software, called qXR, will help examine lung problems more closely.
Heart attack
Every year around 350,000 patients in the UK have heart CT scans to detect dangerous blockages or narrowing of the arteries that can lead to fatal heart attacks. But CT scans don’t always detect small narrowings, which can rupture if inflamed and lead to a later heart attack.
A new AI tool has been trained to detect heart attack risk factors. If widely implemented, the number of cases could be reduced by 20%.
Breast cancer
Breast cancer screening is important to detect the disease early, which can save many patients’ lives. Women 50 years of age and older should have a mammogram every three years. However, the UK has a shortage of about 29% of radiologists and some medical facilities have closed.
Now AI can help close that gap. A trial published in a medical journal Lancet Oncology shows that an AI-powered screening tool can detect cancer as fast as two radiologists. The NHS is looking at how to put AI to work in its breast cancer screening programme.