Cancer alliance uses AI for faster reporting of significant findings on chest x-rays

North East London Cancer Alliance is leading an initiative to integrate AI into cancer diagnostic pathways. The project aims to reduce the wait time for chest x-ray results from three weeks to three days for scans with significant findings.

In collaboration with Sectra and Qure.ai, North East London Cancer Alliance is using Sectra Amplifier services integrating the qXR AI tool to help radiologists and reporting radiographers prioritise urgent cases, enhance decision making and streamline the patient journey.

This is a collaboration between Barts Health NHS Trust, Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust and Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

North-east London is facing workforce challenges and a rise in demand for chest x-rays. In 2017, 139,080 chest x-rays were performed; by 2022 that number had risen to 270,000, a 94 per cent increase in five years. Qure says that using AI will help tackle these issues by improving decision making and prioritising urgent cases, helping to reduce delays and streamline the diagnostic process.

AI is now being used at the three trusts for the first time, where it is being integrated into chest x-ray pathways to ensure the timely identification of significant findings. The initiative, aligned with the National Optimal Lung Cancer Pathway guidelines, aims to provide confidence for healthcare professionals, improve patient outcomes and streamline radiology workflows.

By prioritising urgent cases and quickly sorting through normal ones, the AI system reduces delays in diagnosing critical conditions such as lung cancer. The technology is used to assist, rather than replace, the specialist teams working on respiratory conditions.

North East London Cancer Alliance is supporting a national evaluation of this rollout, as well as a local one to highlight benefits to the local population.

Senior project manager Oliver Hawkins commented: “It has been great working with Qure and Sectra to deliver an AI-driven solution aimed at revolutionising diagnostic pathways in north-east London. This provides patients with faster access to crucial diagnostic tests and improves overall healthcare delivery.”

Picture: Embedding AI into existing radiology pathways can enable urgent cases to be prioritised quickly.

Read this report on page 24 of the December 2024 issue of RAD Magazine.

You might also like

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read more