AI-embedded X-Ray system could help speed up detection of a collapsed lung

With more than 2 billion X-Ray exams done annually, X-Ray is often the hospital's first impression of a patient. Just like first impressions with people, the first image taken helps set the path going forward. "We are getting portable X-Rays all the time for our patients," said Dr. Rachael Callcut, Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center and Director of Data Science for the Center for Digital Health Innovation. "When an X-Ray is taken on a patient, especially a patient who's suffering from an emergent condition or a potentially life-threatening condition, the time that it takes to process, have someone read that and have the image actually come into a queue is a really important time period where minutes and hours matter. For example, a collapsed lung, known as a pneumothorax, is a condition which strikes nearly 74,000 Americans each year[1] and can be deadly if not diagnosed quickly and accurately[2]. A pneumothorax occurs when air leaks into the space between the lung and chest wall. This air pushes on the outside of the lung and makes it collapse. It can be caused by trauma, cigarette smoking, drug abuse, certain lung diseases or be caused by complications from surgery. Today, patients who present with symptoms associated with this condition receive a chest X-Ray, which can take anywhere between two to eight hours to read[3]. Tension pneumothorax or an enlarging pneumothorax can develop as a result of delayed treatment[4], potentially leading to fatal consequences if not treated quickly. This is an example of what may be designated as a "STAT" chest X-Ray, which is supposed to be reserved for potentially life-threatening circumstances. It is a designation on the exam placed at the time of order entry and refers to the ordering provider's determination that the results require immediate interpretation and follow-up. STAT portable chest X-Rays can attribute to more than 60 percent of a radiology center's mobile chest X-ray volume, almost double that of routine exams3. "There's no universally accepted definition of what constitutes a STAT exam," said Dr. Karl Yaeger, a diagnostic radiologist at St. Luke's University Health Network in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. "Is it STAT because the patient is medically unstable?