An artificial intelligence tool has been developed by researchers at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Sheffield, with the aim of providing quick and comprehensive analysis of heart function to aid earlier and more detailed diagnosis.
The trust describes how the tool “automatically detects chambers of the heart on magnetic resonance MRI images… the automatic function of the tool helps improve cardiovascular care as the technology replaces a time-consuming and resource-intensive process that requires doctors and specialists to draw contours on the scanned images of the heart. The immediacy of the results also aids earlier diagnosis.”
It has been developed by Dr Andrew Swift, Dr Samer Alabed, Dr Kavita Karunasagaraar and Dr Pete Metherall with help from clinical scientists and MRI radiographers at the 3-D lab in Sheffield in partnership with Dr Rob van der Geest at Leiden University.
Evaluated at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, the tool has been tested on thousands of images and validated in over 5,000 anonymised patient scans, with further testing taking place on scans from more than 30 hospitals in the UK over the past three years.
Researchers have estimated that the AI tool could save doctors and expert imaging specialists up to 30 minutes per scan.
The team are now seeking to make the tool available to the wider NHS.
Consultant Cardiothoracic Radiologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield Dr Andrew Swift said: “Getting answers quickly and accurately will reduce even further the time it takes for patients to begin receiving the right treatment. Obtaining complex measurements showing how well both the left and right side of the heart is pumping is a time-intensive manual task.
“The AI segmentation of cardiac MRI to automate the measurement of cardiac function and volume technology overcomes this problem. It has the potential to free up hospital staff to deal with more patients rather than spend time on image analysis. This is an excellent example of innovation from within the NHS and a proud legacy of the clinical and technical expertise we have here in Sheffield.”
