Publish date: 13 November 2024
Tameside and Glossop NHS Integrated Care Foundation Trust (ICFT) have joined other hospitals across Greater Manchester in using an new AI (artificial intelligence) technology to help doctors to detect diseases, including lung cancer, quicker.
The new technology started rolling out at Tameside Hospital this week and will be rolled out at seven NHS Trusts across the region over the next few months as part of a partnership between Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance, Greater Manchester Imaging Network and global health tech firm Annalise.ai.
It will see an AI-powered chest X-ray decision-support system used to read chest X-rays. The tool can detect up to 124 findings on chest radiographs, which will help healthcare professionals detect diseases, including lung cancer, quicker.
When the Annalise.ai chest X-ray solution identifies potential lung cancer cases, the information is relayed to the reporting medical provider in under a minute. This allows healthcare professionals to prioritise the review of the chest x-rays identified as suspicious, helping to detect (or rule out) cancer more quickly.
The tool will enhance efficiency and care quality within lung cancer detection in Greater Manchester.
Integrating the Annalise.ai solution through Sectra Imaging - a leading imaging IT provider to health systems worldwide - across all seven Trusts within the Greater Manchester Imaging Network will allow a comprehensive evaluation of this technology across the region, which has a population of 2.8 million people. It is being funded by from the Artificial Intelligence Diagnostics Fund (AIDF).
The need to detect cancer more quickly is particularly urgent in Greater Manchester, where lung cancer rates sit at 24% above the national average and life expectancy is lower than in England as a whole.
The project forms part of a wider programme of work being led by the Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance, with the aim of improving cancer outcomes and experiences for the population of Greater Manchester.
Dilraj Sandher, Medical Director at Tameside and Glossop NHS ICFT, said: “We are proud to welcome this emerging technology. This is an excellent tool to aid our clinicians in the earlier detection of lung cancer for patients in Tameside and Glossop, and we are looking forward to seeing the results.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “When I was diagnosed with cancer, a world-class surgeon equipped with a robot helped save my life – showcasing the very best of our NHS.
“Breakthroughs like this AI tool will help to save lives across the country, speeding up diagnosis so that doctors can provide the best possible treatments to patients sooner.
"As part of our 10 Year Health Plan, I am determined that we embrace this kind of innovation and shift the health service from analogue to digital, so more patients can get their lives back.”
Chris Sleight, Chief Officer, Greater Manchester Imaging Network, said:
“We are thrilled to have been awarded the funding from the Artificial Intelligence Diagnostics Fund (AIDF) to help bring faster diagnosis of chest x-rays for our patients.
“This is such an exciting advancement to help us improve the detection of lung cancer earlier in the patient pathway, and therefore better prognosis. We are delighted to be working with Annalise and the Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance on such an important programme for our patients.”
[1] https://greatermanchesterdiagnostics.nhs.uk/about-networks/our-population
[2] https://nwcr.org/cancer-types/lung-cancer/#:~:text=Overall%20for%20the%20North%20West,higher%20than%20the%20English%20average.
