A pioneering new cloud computing system in the UK will enable AI tools to be tested on an unprecedented scale across the NHS, aiming to boost early diagnosis.
A new AI research screening platform, dubbed AIR-SP, is being developed by NHS England with nearly £6m in government funding. This initiative aims to enable trusts across the country to participate in trials of AI in screening and pioneer early diagnosis for millions of patients.
It will offer NHS staff access to revolutionary AI tools in trials to help analyse screening images and pinpoint abnormalities, including possible signs of cancer.
NHS faces barriers to the digital revolution
Currently, the NHS lacks the digital tools to deploy AI in screening quickly, safely, and at scale. Around 90% of AI tools remain stuck in pilot phases due to over-reliance on temporary IT setups in each individual trust.
Even if one tool is deemed effective by one trust, every single other trust in the NHS must start the process of testing the tool from scratch and set up new databases to access images generated by AI systems.
The new NHS-wide cloud will host multiple AI tools in a single environment, with secure connections to all NHS trusts nationwide. It will significantly reduce the time and costs associated with rolling out AI research studies.
Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, stated: “As our world-leading scientists develop new lifesaving AI tools, this new cloud platform will see them rolled out to patients in research trials so patients can receive early diagnosis with cutting-edge tech.”
Revolutionary new AI systems will be trialled for cancer detection
The AI platform, which is expected to take approximately two years to build, will enable the simultaneous testing and trialling of futuristic tools across the health service, with the aim of rolling them out to the NHS frontline if proven effective.
It will first be used to support nearly 700,000 women across the country participating in a historic National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)-funded trial, which aims to identify changes in breast tissue that may indicate possible signs of cancer and refer them for further investigation if necessary.
“This innovative cloud platform will help vastly accelerate research into the use of AI to enhance vital NHS screening programmes,” said Dr Kevin Dunbar, NHS Deputy Director of Public Health, Vaccination and Screening Directorate.
“By enabling trusts and patients across the country to participate in landmark AI trials in the coming years, it will combine cutting-edge technology with clinical expertise to improve early diagnosis and care for patients as well as NHS productivity.”
Simon Vincent, chief scientific officer at Breast Cancer Now, added: “Currently, 11,500 tragically die from breast cancer each year in the UK. Breast screening is a key tool for detecting breast cancer early, and critically, the sooner it’s diagnosed, the more likely it is that treatment will be successful.
“We hope that the introduction of this single shared system will make it both quicker and easier for Trusts across the UK to test AI tools that could hold the potential to improve early detection and make the breast screening programme even more effective.”
Other innovative technologies transforming early diagnosis and patient care
The government is already harnessing artificial intelligence and innovative technology to transform patient care.
Clinicians are being supported to use groundbreaking AI tools that streamline bureaucracy and automate notetaking to free up staff time and deliver better care to patients.
A world-first AI early warning system is also being developed to identify safety concerns across the NHS automatically, and red tape has been cut to ensure that NHS patients will be among the first in Europe to benefit from a new non-invasive liver cancer treatment.
The government has also rolled out pioneering new technology to ensure that millions of cancer patients can receive a faster diagnosis.
Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, concluded: “Investing in digital technologies like AI and the high-tech IT infrastructure the NHS needs to provide patients with a service fit for the 21st century is crucial to the government’s ambitions of moving from an analogue system to one that is fully digitised.”
