Artificial intelligence could provide the ‘ultimate second opinion’ as it is just as good as doctors at analysing X-rays, scientists have claimed.
Tests using AI software on millions of old scans diagnosed conditions at least as accurately as radiologists 94 per cent of the time.
The joint study by Warwick University and King’s College London suggested it could prove vital in avoiding human error when checking patients’ results.
The AI software, which can scan X-rays as soon as they are taken, is able to understand the seriousness of each condition and flag the more urgent ones immediately.
The study’s authors suggested it could be used to screen X-rays, freeing up time for busy doctors to focus on more critical patients and helping deal with chronic NHS staffing shortages.
Researchers first fed the AI model – called X-Raydar – nearly three million historic chest scans from 1.5million patients and then taught it to check for 37 possible conditions (Stock image)
A recent survey by the Royal College of Radiologists found a lack of specialist staff was leading to longer wait times and delays in treatment at nearly all UK cancer treatment centres.
Researchers first fed the AI model – called X-Raydar – nearly three million historic chest scans from 1.5 million patients and then taught it to check for 37 possible conditions.
The software – which flags any abnormalities with a percentage chance of them being present – was found to be ‘just as accurate or more accurate than the doctor’s analysis’ for 35 out of 37 conditions.
Dr Giovanni Montana, professor of data science at Warwick, and lead author, said: ‘This programme has been trained on millions of X-rays and is highly accurate.
Dr Giovanni Montana (pictured), professor of data science at Warwick suggested the tool could also be used as a screening tool – allowing radiologists to focus on the more challenging and critical tests instead.
‘It eliminates the elements of human error, which is unavoidable, and bias. If a patient is referred for an X-ray with a heart problem, doctors will inevitably focus on the heart over the lungs.
‘This is totally understandable but runs the risk of undetected problems in other areas. This AI eliminates that human bias – it’s the ultimate second opinion’.
With half of X-rays finding no abnormalities, he suggested the tool could also be used as a screening tool – allowing radiologists to focus on the more challenging and critical tests instead.
Co-author Professor Vicky Goh of King’s College London said: ‘AI programmes available to us in the NHS only have a limited scope. Comprehensive AI programmes like this will be the future of medicine, with AI acting as a co-pilot for busy doctors.
‘With the acute shortage of radiologists in the UK, programmes like this will facilitate interpretation and reduce delays for diagnosis and treatment.’
