The Pillar Centre. Image: Mater Hospital
The hospital’s AI software has correctly flagged hundreds of brain bleeds and artery blockages in patient scans, while the hospital plans to trial new AI tools in its emergency department.
The Mater Misericordiae University Hospital in Dublin has been using AI across its radiology department to speed up patient care.
The hospital claims to be the first in Ireland to use AI in this way and claims the technology has led to rapid notifications of suspected pathologies in patients. The hospital claims AI can free up time for medical staff while improving patient care.
Mater Hospital used this AI software to assist in various types of patient CT scans to speed up the detection of issues within patients. The AI software has analysed more than 15,000 patient scans since it was introduced this year.
Out of these scans, the hospital said more than 700 pathologies were correctly flagged by the AI system within two to three minutes of the scan being completed, including 500 intracranial haemorrhages – bleeding within the skull – and 200 pulmonary emboli – artery blockages.
The AI system also detected 50 pulmonary emboli when the scans were being performed to assess other medical conditions.
The technology is being provided by Israeli tech company Aidoc and operates on an ‘always on’ basis, which means it constantly runs in the background to flag any issues it detects. The results so far suggest the AI software has an accuracy rate of more than 90pc, according to the hospital.
Prof Peter MacMahon, a Mater Hospital consultant radiologist, said the result shows the “tangible benefits of AI” such as speeding up critical diagnoses and reducing turnaround times by “rapidly flagging anomalies detected in scans”.
“This allows radiologists to prioritise the reading of these results and verify their accuracy before deciding upon a further course of action.”
The hospital said the software underwent rigorous scrutiny, verification and testing during a trial phase between April and August before the technology was fully deployed across the radiology department. The hospital also noted that this AI software is designed to augment the capabilities of radiologists rather than replace them, to ensure that humans are still reading the scans.
Mater Hospital plans to trial other AI tools early next year, with a focus on the analysis of bone and chest X-rays in its emergency department. It is hoped these tools will enhance the hospital’s diagnostic capabilities and reduce waiting times for patients, while freeing up valuable time for frontline healthcare staff.
Various tech giants are working to integrate the power of AI into services for the healthcare sector. But while these systems show promise in terms of handling mass amounts of data, supporting health research and detecting diseases, these systems can also push medical misconceptions and present privacy risks.
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