A trial under way at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary is exploring whether artificial intelligence (AI) can assist radiologists in reviewing thousands of mammograms a year.
The pilot helped spot early-stage breast cancer for June – a healthcare assistant and participant in the trial – and she is now set to undergo surgery as a result.
Mammograms are low level X-rays used in breast cancer screenings to monitor and detect changes too small to see or feel.
According to the NHS, they help save about 1,300 lives each year in the UK.
And while the number of women who attended a routine breast screening, 受邀之后, 在截至2022年的三年时间里，博天堂入口的人数有所增加, 审查结果的放射科医生数量正在减少.
什么是人工智能?
AI – technology which sees computers perform specific tasks that would typically require human intelligence – is already widely used across a range of industries.
While high-profile experts’ fears that AI could lead to the extinction of humanity have recently been making headlines, the tech’s more practical realities are already being shown in healthcare.
Its potential to speed up the process of drug and disease discovery means many scientists and doctors see AI as a powerful tool to work with, 而不是取代, 从业人员.
阿伯丁的人工智能试验
The number of screen-detected breast cancers of women of all ages grew to 1,在2021年到2022年之间，博天堂入口有830人, 根据博天堂入口公共卫生(PHS)数据.
这5个人中,000 mammograms scrutinised on average by radiologists each year, between 250 and 300 patients will be called back – with 30 to 40 of them requiring closer attention.
“有了这个数字，有可能, 你可能会错过癌症,利普博士, clinical director of the 博天堂入口东北部 Breast Screening Programme, 告诉BBC.
格兰pian的Gemini项目 - NHS之间的合作, the University of Aberdeen and private industry – was mentioned in Scotland’s AI Strategy when it launched in 2021.
Kheiron医疗技术公司开发了人工智能模型Mia, 用于试验, with Microsoft providing the cloud computing services to support it.
With rules set by the National Screening Counsel currently forbidding the automatic deployment of AI in screenings, Dr Lip and other radiologists are trialling it as an additional check at the end of mammogram scan reviews.
June, a participant in the trial who has undergone similar surgery before, received a biopsy to remove a small part of her breast tissue for testing after Dr Lip explained how the AI tool helped identify an area of concern.
He showed BBC Click how the software works using anonymised mammogram results.
“What we’re seeing now is a lady who’s got mammograms on the left side and right side, 你在寻找差异,他说.
通过点击按钮, radiologists can view and check differences identified by the AI between the two scans.
Dr Lip pointed to one area circled by the AI software, identifying it as the main area of concern.
“In screening you want to pick up things when they are small before they become big,” he added.
活检后几周, June told Click that using AI – rather than another human pair of eyes – made the process feel less intrusive.
“You know your images are on screen, and people are looking at them,” she said. “Whereas when it’s an artificial intelligence, that bit of feeling that somebody is looking has gone.”
The results of June’s biopsy means she will once again be having surgery.
“活检显示我确实患有早期癌症, 这次他们确实在早期阶段就发现了,琼说。. “But because I’ve had previous history with it, I’m going to go in and have a mastectomy.
“这不是我想要的治疗. But at the same time, it’s reassuring that it’s being caught.”
“长期员工短缺”
A major review of Scotland’s breast screening programme published last year suggested a large number of radiology and advance practitioner staff are either nearing or at retirement age.
报告称，“超级读者”放射科医生的数量正在下降, relied on by the service to review a particularly high number of results, 让服务变得“脆弱”的风险.
The Royal College of Radiologists has also warned the UK is facing “chronic staff shortages”, with patients waiting too long for vital tests and cancer treatments.
两名放射科医生需要阅读和报告结果, the Scottish government’s review said replacing one human reader with AI could “cover half of the screening image reading burden of approximately 1.每年7200万张图片被阅读。”.
But could the technology being tested in Aberdeen some day replace human staff?
“I think the goal of this evaluation is to see what’s the best way we can work with AI, 不管是替换放射科医生, 无论是阅读一些正常的乳房x光片, or whether it’s to improve our cancer detection as a safety net,利普博士说.
彼得Kecskemethy, Kheiron的联合创始人, said the tech will used by more than 30 NHS trusts across the UK for millions to access.
And with trusts in England already exploring how AI can support better, 为乳腺癌患者带来更快的结果, the tech looks to continue playing a large role in helping doctors save lives.
Source: BBC新闻