Thousands of patients and NHS staff will benefit from dozens of new pioneering projects awarded a share of 拢36 million to test state-of-the-art AI technology.听听
The projects will help the NHS to transform the quality of care and the speed of diagnoses for conditions such as lung cancer.听
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock announced the winners of the second wave of the NHS AI Lab鈥檚 AI in Health and Care Award.听听
The projects backed by听NHSX听and Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) include听an AI-guided tool to help doctors and nurses to diagnose heart attacks more accurately;听an algorithm to fast-track the detection of lung cancer;听an AI-powered mental health app to help tackle symptoms of anxiety and depression while also identifying people experiencing severe mental health difficulties; and听tech to help spot undiagnosed spinal fractures.听
The full list of projects听are:听
Bone Health Solutions听
Zebra Medical Vision听
A pilot project using AI to analyse any type of scan to catch undiagnosed spinal fractures, which can be a marker for osteoporosis. Patients will receive lifestyle advice, where appropriate, to reduce future fracture risks associated with the disease.听
Paige prostate cancer detection tool听
University of Oxford听
Using AI to support the analysis of pathology samples and images听in order to听more efficiently detect and quantify cancer in biopsies, diagnosing prostate and other cancers. This addresses a rise in caseload combined with a drop in qualified pathologists, which has led to backlogs in the system.听
Chest X-ray analysis听
Behold.AI Technologies Ltd听
Real-world testing of an AI algorithm to fast-track the diagnosis of suspected lung cancer patients, offering them same-day CT scans. Patients whose chest X-rays show no abnormalities will be听flagged, and听spared further procedures.听
eHub听
eConsult听Health Ltd听
Using AI to intelligently triage and automate GP e-consultation requests, reducing staff time to manage the system.听eHub听aims to improve clinician听efficiency, and听allow easier interface for GPs and admin staff with听eConsult听software, reducing errors and improving patient safety.听
DERM听
Skin Analytics Ltd听
Expanding trials of the use of AI in the analysis of images of skin lesions, distinguishing between cancerous, pre-cancerous and benign lesions. DERM sets out to highlight the most likely cancers and aid in swift and appropriate treatment being offered, reducing backlogs in this service and reducing premature deaths.听
CaRi-HEART听
Caristo Diagnostics Ltd听
Using AI to detect the invisible signatures of inflammation in the heart as shown in regular CT scans. This gives a better prediction of the risk of cardiovascular disease, allowing more efficient targeting of medication and treatment.听
Cogstack听Natural Language Processing听
King鈥檚 College London听
This AI-based clinical coding of medical records aims to enable more efficient analysis, remove errors, free up staff time, and improve research. Recruitment for clinical trials will be improved, and individual clinicians will be able to analyse patient records more efficiently.听
qER听
Qure.ai Technologies Private Limited听
Evaluation of the use of AI to support emergency department clinicians to analyse CT scans in patients with head injuries, leading to faster treatments and better outcomes for the patients. This can be vital in areas where there is a shortage of trained radiologists to analyse the scan images immediately.听
ArtiQ.Spiro听
Guy鈥檚 and St Thomas鈥� NHS Foundation Trust听
Testing the use of AI to interpret and evaluate the spirometry test used to determine lung function, freeing up clinician time, and reducing incorrect diagnoses. Part of the NHS鈥檚听Long Term听Plan to combat lung听disease, and听reduce health inequality.听
Workforce deployment solutions听
Navenio听Limited听
Using AI to implement workforce solutions, ensuring that both clinical and support staff are in the right place at the right time within a hospital, to maximise efficiency. The programme uses smartphones for the deployment of porters, cleaners, Allied Health Professionals and others, when they are needed.听
Analysing breast screening X-rays听
Imperial College London听
Evaluating the potential of AI for analysing X-ray images of routine mammograms (breast screening). This will improve accuracy, safety, cost-effectiveness and patient experience, giving results faster, and helping mitigate the shortage of radiographers available to analyse mammograms.听
InnerEye听
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust听
Using open-source AI and machine learning to differentiate tumour and healthy tissue on cancer scans (called 鈥榮egmenting鈥�), prior to radiotherapy treatment. This saves clinicians鈥櫶齮ime, and听reduces the time between the scan and commencing treatment.听听
DOLCE听
Optellum听Ltd听
Determining the impact on healthcare services of听Optellum鈥檚听Lung Cancer Prediction artificial intelligence solution DOLCE, which examines lung nodules to determine which are precancerous, without the use of expensive tests and scans, minimising worrying delays for the patient.听
Lenus COPD Management Service听
Storm ID Ltd听
Introducing prevention and self-management to people with COPD lung disorder, using AI to analyse output from patients鈥� daily monitoring and wearable devices. This is used to predict the worsening of COPD, enabling clinicians to prioritise patients who are most at risk.听听
Wysa听
WYSA Ltd听
Real-world testing of an AI app as an early intervention and support tool for mental health, to be used by patients on the waiting list for regular care. The aim is to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, and detect people experiencing severe mental health difficulties, so that they can be prioritised for treatment.听
MyDiabetes听IQ听
MyWay听Digital Health Ltd听
MyWay听Digital health is testing an AI tool for predicting diabetes complications and treatment choices, to support non-specialist GPs with managing their diabetes patients. The aim is to prevent complications, like heart attacks and foot ulcers.听
BloodTyper听听
University of Cambridge听
BloodTyper听is an AI system that uses DNA to determine the sub-groups of donated blood, improving how well blood is matched to recipients. This reduces the risk of听rejection, and听will enable systems to be developed that use blood stocks more efficiently, and even target blood donation appeals for the most-needed blood sub-groups.听
Advance notice of deterioration in cystic fibrosis听
University of Cambridge / Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust听
This project is using AI with home monitoring equipment to predict sudden dips in the health of cystic fibrosis patients, aiming to prevent them occurring, and support clinicians and patients to make good decisions without repeated hospital check-ups.听
mySmartCOPD听
University of Southampton听
Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) are being supported to use home monitoring of various health markers, and report them using the听MyCOPD听app. The data are analysed by AI to predict 鈥榚xacerbation events鈥�, where a patient鈥檚 condition suddenly declines,听in order to听prevent or lessen these events.听听
ImageDx听
Sonrai Analytics Ltd听
A centralised, AI-based solution for faster and more accurate testing on cancer biopsy tissue for colorectal, lung and other cancers.听
First PLUS听
Perspectum Ltd听
The First PLUS project uses AI to analyse the size of the placenta during the first trimester, and flag those that are abnormally small, which is an indicator for听Fetal听Growth Restriction. This is a risk factor for stillbirth and other neonatal conditions, as well as lifelong health issues.听听
CHRONOS听
University of Oxford听
The CHRONOS project is developing AI and natural language processing capability, to extract relevant information from patients鈥� health records, going back in time. This will help clinicians triage patients who are referred to mental health services, enabling swifter care, and to flag high-risk patients.听
CESCAIL听
Corporate Health International UK Ltd听
The CESCAIL project is听testing听 how听effective AI can be in performing preliminary analysis on the hours of images taken during capsule endoscopy, saving clinicians up to 80% of the time they would usually spend on this work. The project will allow this more flexible type of endoscopy to be rolled out further in the community.听
Eye2Gene听
University College London, Moorfields Ophthalmic Reading Centre听
Eye2Gene is exploring the use of AI to determine which genetic condition is causing a patient鈥檚 inherited retinal disease, by examining eye scans. With more than 180 possible genetic causes, requiring differing management or treatment options, swift diagnosis is crucial.听听
Issues and themes analysis in complaints听
Methods Analytics Ltd听
This project aims to use AI and Natural Language Processing to improve the speed, responsiveness and learning from the management of healthcare complaints, picking up key issues in individual cases, and recurring patterns across a service or area.听
Machine learning to improve the diagnosis of heart听attacks听
University of Edinburgh听
This project is developing an AI-guided tool to help doctors and nurses interpret a patient鈥檚 troponin levels to diagnose heart attacks more accurately. A web app can be used on a mobile device at the bedside or embedded into hospital computer systems.听
Monitoring slow-growing brain tumours听
University of Cambridge听
Certain types of brain tumour are deemed听low-risk, as they grow so slowly. This project aims to develop AI to measure the volume of tumours from scans, and learn which are at risk of growth, to ensure those patients are monitored more frequently, and others can be reassured that their tumour is lower risk.听
Pathpoint听Detect听
Open Medical Ltd听
Pathpoint听Detect is a new development for existing听Pathpoint听patient care workflow software, enabling it to offer decision-support tools for dermatology clinicians, based on imaging from prior cases, and previous consultant decisions.听
Developing the Blood Pressure Index for improved blood pressure control听
Imperial College London听
Developing the Blood Pressure Index, to provide more data for patients monitoring their blood pressure, with the help of AI to monitor hypertension, the most important cause of strokes, heart disease and death.听
panPIERS听
King鈥檚 College London听
This project plans to combine the existing PIERS (Pre-eclampsia Integrated Estimate of Risk Score) tools,听miniPIERS听and听fullPIERS, together with AI into an app to calculate an individual woman鈥檚 risk of pre-eclampsia, and its potential severity, including post-birth complications.听
PREVAIL 鈥撎齈hototheRapy听Enhanced Via Artificially Intelligent Lasers听
University of Southampton听
The PREVAIL project is developing automatic 鈥榮elf-driving鈥� UVB lasers for the treatment of psoriasis, enabling only the affected skin to be targeted in high doses. This would reduce the risk of skin cancer in adjacent skin caused by the blanket use of UVB听rays, and听remove the need for a specialist clinician to target affected areas by hand.听
Measuring hip dysplasia in children with cerebral palsy听
University of Manchester听
This project seeks to use machine learning to assess X-ray images of the hips of children with cerebral palsy, to determine whether they are at risk of hip dislocation, a process which can be time-consuming when carried out by clinicians.听听
CirrhoCare听
Cyberliver听Ltd听
CyberLiver听proposes using AI to examine the outcomes for patients with cirrhosis who experience deteriorations in their condition due to infection, to better understand which will benefit from early ICU care.听
Decision-making for less-than-perfect kidney transplant matches听
University of Oxford听
Deceased kidney donors and potential recipients are not always perfectly matched, so this project aims to train AI to help with the decision-making process around whether clinicians should accept less-than-perfectly-matched donor kidneys, or whether to wait for a better match, by analysing the likely patient outcome in both cases.听听
Detecting coronary artery calcification in chest X-rays听
Golden Jubilee National Hospital and University of Glasgow听
Many CT scans include the heart, even if it is not the primary focus of the image. This project aims to train AI in the detection of coronary artery calcification, so that early care and treatment can be provided in advance of the patient reporting heart problems.听
Predicting and monitoring pre-term labour听
Coventry University听
This project will explore the use of听electrohysterography听sensing to predict and monitor the pre-term labour of women giving birth before 37 weeks, using AI to provide more accurate data than is currently available by this or other methods.听
R-CANCER听
Imperial College London听
R-CANCER will improve the quality of decisions made by doctors when deciding how best to detect and diagnose cancer, by intelligently collating, analysing and interpreting new data on cancer from academic and open data sources.听
Diagnosis of 鈥榞lue ear鈥� with AI听
Cardiff Metropolitan University听
This project aims to test the use of AI to accurately diagnose 鈥榞lue ear鈥� (Otitis Media with Effusion) in children, preventing delayed or incorrect diagnoses, and reducing complications and recurrent issues.听