Secondary Care

Liverpool Heart and Chest partners with AI company

Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS FT has partnered with an artificial intelligence company to use the technology in clinical practice and lung cancer screening.

Working with Amsterdam-based medtech company Aidence, the trust will use the AI solution, Veye Chest, to support radiologists analyse the approximately 7,000 routine and screening chest CT scans performed each year.

The company said the technology aims to take on some of the time-consuming reporting tasks by analysing and reporting CT chest scans for lung nodules.

Dr. Caroline McCann, Consultant Radiologist at LHCH said: “LHCH are excited to work in partnership with Aidence and to continue the development of software which supports consultants with reporting.”

“Veye Chest gives us confidence that we are at the forefront of implementing lung cancer CT screening using artificial intelligence, leading to better patient outcomes.”

The technology detects, classifies, and tracks the growth of pulmonary nodules as small as 3mm. The results are made available directly into the existing workflow before the radiologist starts reporting.

Lizzie Barclay, Medical Director at Aidence and a former NHS radiology registrar, said: “I know how important it is to design tools that will suit not only the NHS and the patient, but also the radiologist.”

“Veye Reporting therefore produces reports that follow the NHS template, with the radiologist having control over which nodules to include in the report, easy sharing options, and the choice of adding incidental findings.”

Mark-Jan Harte, CEO of Aidence, commented on the partnership: “We’ve been working together for a long time and sealing this collaboration confirms our strong relationship. As the benefits of lung cancer screening are now proven, we believe Veye Chest will make scan reporting more efficient and support early lung cancer detection.”

The trust has also supported Aidence with its application for the NHSX AI Award, which provides funding for companies and NHS trusts for the adoption and research of AI technologies in healthcare.