Chapel Allerton Hospital, part of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, is to conduct a 6 month pilot to test if an artificial intelligence solution can match a consultant surgeon when it comes to deciding if a patient requires knee surgery.
The AI solution developed by SerenusAI Ltd, will be trialled with the Department of Orthopaedics at Chapel Allerton Hospital and the University of Leeds School of Medicine.
It will guide doctors and healthcare teams through a review of a case before making a recommendation. The tool in a web browser guides them through a face-to- face consultation with their patients, then makes recommendations for either the surgical procedure the patient was referred for or suggests specific conservative measures that may be indicated instead.
The six-month pilot project is to evaluate the ability of the SerenusAI system to improve service efficiency and outcomes for patients referred for Total Knee Replacement procedures, and to study its recommendations inline with a consultant.
During the project, fifty patients will be assessed in clinic by Prof. Hemant Pandit, Professor of Orthopaedics and Director for Research and Innovation at the Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine. Prof Pandit and his team will use SerenusAI software to determine whether or not a patient is a suitable candidate for surgical intervention, or if more conservative measures may produce a better outcome.
The company said the study will understand the accuracy of the system and its consistency, whilst also to determine if variances occur. If proved successful the company said the tool could be used to help GPs and junior doctors to make decisions on where best to refer patients.
The project is part of a research programme at the University of Leeds and Leeds Teaching Hospitals to see if AI can assist and improve clinical decisions.