A number of NHS trusts are joining a trial of an AI technology in diagnosing prostate cancer.
Imperial College Healthcare, University College London, University Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire, Chelsea and Westmister Hospital and University Hospital Southampton have signed up to a study backed by NHSX.
It involves the use of Galen Prostate platform developed by Ibex Medical Analytics to speed up the diagnosis of biopsies and reduce errors.
Clinicians will compare the results with current diagnosis methods in which biopsies are reviewed by a pathologist using samples of 600 men over 14 months. Patients taking part in the trial will sign informed consent for their biopsy to be analysed by traditional and AI methods.
The project is one of those funded by the NHSX AI in Health and Care programme.
Too few pathologists
Matthew Gould, NHSX CEO, said: “We are currently caught between having too few pathologists and rising demand for biopsies. This technology could help, and give thousands of men with prostate cancer faster, more accurate diagnoses.
“It is a prime example of how AI can help clinicians improve care for patients as we recover from the pandemic.”
NHSX said the Galen platform is the first AI powered cancer diagnostics solution in routine clinical use in pathology and deployed worldwide, and that Ibex’s solution are built on deep learning algorithms trained by a team of pathologists, data scientists and software engineers.
Image from iStock, ipopba
