Artificial intelligence speeding up cancer diagnosis | News

A Surrey woman’s cancer was identified within a matter of hours thanks to a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool that has been introduced at Royal Surrey, which part of the Surrey, Sussex and Frimley Imaging Network.

Just 48 hours after seeing her GP about a persistent cough, Dianne Covey was told that doctors had spotted something suspicious on her lungs.

The 69-year-old received the news after her chest X-ray was analysed by a revolutionary artificial intelligence tool, called Annalise.ai, which looks out for areas of concern and then prioritises cases for clinicians that require urgent review. 

Dianne of Farncombe, Surrey, said: “When I went to the GP, I had a bad feeling that it was lung cancer and was really worried.

“My GP referred me for an X-ray the next day. I had that done and then that same afternoon they called me to say that they’d found something and I needed more tests.”

The retired hospital worker was the first patient at Royal Surrey to be diagnosed with lung cancer with help from the new technology. Thanks to the speedy diagnosis, Dianne’s cancer was found at Stage 1 and her prognosis is positive.

“I feel like the speed of the diagnosis and the fact that my cancer has been caught in the early stages means that I have a second chance at life,” Dianne said.

“I never really understood much about artificial intelligence but now I think that it might have saved my life. I am very grateful.”

Annalise.ai is being used across five NHS Trusts that are part of the Surrey, Sussex and Frimley Imaging Network - Royal Surrey, Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust and East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust. 

The revolutionary tool does not replace clinicians, but aids radiographers by prioritising which X-rays to look at first. Previously these images would have been reviewed in chronological order.

The cutting edge software also increases the accuracy of these reviews by flagging any tiny anomalies that may appear on the scans.

Oliver McKinley, Managing Director of Surrey, Sussex and Frimley Imaging Network said:

“Launching Annalise.ai as a network has been of huge benefit to our patients, improving the speed at which we are able to diagnose lung conditions.

“Patients with suspicious X-rays are now not simply waiting for their turn in the queue, but being prioritised as urgent. This means we are picking up their cancers earlier, which has a positive impact on their chances of survival.”