Alleviating radiology backlogs with Artificial Intelligence

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the closure of non-essential radiology services, with over 850,000 MRI and CT scans still outstanding in the UK, meaning patients waiting over two months for a consultation and upwards of 30 days to receive results. Independent market researcher IDTechEx has published a recent report exploring how image recognition in Artificial Intelligence (AI) represents a potential solution to the problem. The report highlights that AI technology can help to compensate for the lack of qualified staff by extending the responsibility of diagnosis beyond just experts and enables trained radiologists of all levels to approach the analysis process with the same tools and skillset so that more resources can be utilised simultaneously. In addition, AI accelerates the detection of abnormalities from medical scans by greatly diminishing reading times – sometimes by over 90% – which allows doctors to examine cases faster and see patients sooner. The key issue is that as of November 2020, AI may not be widely implemented enough throughout hospitals to make a difference.