Leeds Teaching Hospitals pilots AI tool for prostate cancer diagnosis from MRI
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is piloting an AI tool designed to improve prostate cancer diagnosis. In collaboration with Lucida Medical, the trust is testing the effectiveness of the Prostate Intelligence (Pi) tool, an advanced AI and machine learning software system, in detecting prostate cancer lesions from MRI scans.
Patients with prostate cancer face a complex diagnostic pathway, and in using this AI software the trust aims to help speed up the process and prioritise those with cancer. The software could also free up radiologists to report on additional patients every day and may, in future, allow patients to be booked for a biopsy more quickly. Currently, MRI plays a critical role in diagnosing prostate cancer and guiding targeted biopsies.
Consultant radiologist Dr Oliver Hulson said: “Our goal is to determine if this AI tool can accurately identify prostate cancer without underestimating or overestimating the likelihood based on MRI scans. If successful, this could enable us to streamline our prostate cancer pathway and reduce the waiting time for a biopsy from the current two to three weeks to less than one week. The aim would be to provide our patients with a rapid diagnostic approach, or one stop shop, where they could potentially have their MRI scan in the morning reviewed by the radiologist with the benefit of the AI tool and, if needed, plan for their biopsy that afternoon, performing all their investigations in a single day rather than over weeks as is the case currently. This would, of course, reduce their anxiety while waiting for tests and would provide their results as quickly as possible.”
The ongoing study will compare the AI-generated results from the Pi software against real-world outcomes for 100 patients who have recently completed the prostate cancer pathway. Pi software assists radiologists by highlighting potential areas of concern on MRI scans and assessing risk scores and prostate size, which can impact biopsy and treatment decisions.
Picture: Lucida Medical has been a key partner in introducing Pi software at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Read this report on page 4 of the December 2024 issue of RAD Magazine.