New AI test that can diagnose conditions in 20 seconds to be rolled out on the NHS

An AI test that can detect heart disease in just 20 seconds, with a much higher degree of accuracy than existing methods, will be rolled out on the NHS after a successful pilot. The tool analyses heart MRI scans as they happen – compared to the 13 minutes it takes for a doctor to check them manually under the existing system. For now, radiologists using the AI tool will continue to double-check the results and write up the report themselves – but the diagnosis will be completed much quicker as the underlying analysis will have already been done. This means the typical two to four-week waiting time for the result could be reduced by about a third, as the time freed up by the technology enables radiologists to get to it sooner, according to project leader Dr Rhodri Davies, of University College London and St Bartholomew's Hospital. And he predicts that in the next five to 10 years we could see the waiting time speed up even more, as human input may be dropped altogether in favour of an AI-only analysis. "Our new AI reads complex heart scans in record speed, analysing the structure and function of a patient's heart with more precision than ever before.