University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) has been utilising a new imager for cancer patients undergoing tumour removal surgery.
Known as the AURA 10 mobile PET-CT imager, the device scans a specimen and uses high-resolution, submillimetre images to decipher whether all of a tumour has been removed. It was developed by Belgian company XEOS and has since been used for the first time by UHCW on a patient with a carcinoma of the jaw.
MaxilloFacial consultant and assistant medical director for cancer at the trust, Gary Walton, commented: “It takes 10 minutes to put a specimen into the machine and we can scan it during the normal break in a procedure. It’s much quicker than the usual margin resection and it means that patients don’t need to have adjuvant treatment (such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy), which they would otherwise need”. Gary added, “this device has the potential to be used by a lot of different departments.”
The device is now being trialled to demonstrate its effectiveness, with support from the trust’s research and development department.
Earlier this year, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire also shared insights into how they’ve been utilising AI, with focus on a collaborative project designed to reduce the number of missed appointments. The trust identified an opportunity to switch text reminders from four days to 14 days before an appointment, and reports “significant” reductions in the number of patients who did not attend appointments or cancelled at the last minute.
Cancer care: the wider trend
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust recently launched a new self-referral service aimed at supporting the process of getting checked for bowel cancer. Utilising cancer detection specialist C the Signs technology, patients can now check their symptoms on the platform and use an online self-referral form if required. The referral form is said to take around 10 minutes to complete and can be completed online or over the phone.
In November, we reported on the NHS DigiTrials initiative, which is looking to recruit 150,000 volunteers for four research projects on cancer diagnosis and treatment, as well as children’s surgery. 120,000 of those volunteers will be recruited for the BEST4 Heartburn Health trial, involving the testing of a new screening technique for oesophageal cancer, with more volunteers recruited for MyMelanoma and PROTECT-C research projects.
DeepHealth, provider of a portfolio of AI solutions designed to support breast, lung, prostate and neurological care, recently acquired London-based cancer diagnostic company Kheiron Medical Technologies Limited. Kheiron’s Mammography Intelligent Assessment (Mia) offers an AI-powered platform for breast screening, combining novel deep learning methods and radiology insights to identify malignancies in mammograms.
Finally, South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle University conducted a study using AI to help detect cancerous tumours during colonoscopies. It has reportedly highlighted an 8.3 percent increase in the detection of cancerous cells, with the trust stating that it has potential to save “up to 42 percent of lives”.
