Artificial Intelligence to be used in heart disease diagnosis by NHS

Artificial intelligence technology, known as Ultromics, that can diagnose heart disease and lung cancer will be introduced in the summer.

The technology, developed by researchers at the John Radcliff Hospital in Oxford, could pick up diseases much earlier saving the NHS billions of pounds. At present, the pathology services used in diagnosing these conditions cost the NHS £2.2billion per year.

Geneticist Sir John Bell said “you may be able to reduce that by 50%. AI may be the thing that saves the NHS.”

Cardiologists currently diagnose problems by monitoring the timing of the heartbeat in scans, but one in five patients are known to suffer a heart attack or require an unnecessary operation following this method.

The technology developed by researchers in Oxford is said to pick up signs of heart disease or lung cancer that doctors cannot see.

The chairman of the NHS, Professor Sir Malcolm Grant said “artificial intelligence will bring patients a greater quality of care by diagnosing medical conditions and personalising treatment.”

Ultromics has undergone clinical trials in six cardiology units and the results will be published later this year. Professor Leeson, a cardiologist who developed the system, has already said the findings indicate that the technology has outperformed its human heart specialists.

“As cardiologists, we accept that we don’t always get it right”, Professor Leeson said. “But now there is a possibility that we may be able to do better.”

It has been confirmed that the technology will be free to NHS patients throughout the country. Of 60,000 heart scans carried out by the NHS each year, 12,000 are reportedly misdiagnosed. Ultromics could make a great difference to this figure in the future.

References:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/03/artificial-intelligence-diagnose-heart-disease/

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