According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), artificial intelligence (AI) could help doctors catch more broken bones in X-rays that they might miss. Research shows that this technology is safe and could speed up diagnoses, which would ease the stress on healthcare workers and reduce the number of follow-up appointments needed.
NICE is recommending four AI tools for urgent care in England while more studies are done to see how beneficial they are. However, a healthcare professional will always review the images to ensure accuracy.
Currently, doctors miss broken bones in 3-10% of cases, which is the most common mistake in emergency rooms. There aren’t enough trained experts to analyze X-rays, with 12.5% of radiologist positions and 15% of radiographer jobs unfilled in the NHS.
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NICE believes that using AI alongside doctors can help tackle this issue. Mark Chapman, the director of health technology at NICE, mentioned that these AI systems can help identify fractures that might be overlooked due to the heavy workload doctors face.
AI could also speed up how quickly patients get diagnosed and lower the number of follow-up visits needed after a missed fracture. NICE pointed out that it’s unlikely AI will lead to more incorrect diagnoses since a radiologist will always double-check the X-ray.
Overall, using AI in healthcare has great potential. It’s already being used to help detect early signs of breast cancer, identify people at high risk of heart attacks, and even predict future pandemics.
NICE is seeking feedback on its draft guidelines for using AI in this way until November 5.
