Solving the challenges in healthcare with faster, confident decision making.

AI in clinical diagnostic imaging practice began with the introduction of Canon Medical Systems UK’s AI-assisted imaging, firstly through CT, and now MRI, using a Deep Learning reconstruction AI algorithm called Advanced intelligent Clear-IQ Engine (AiCE).

This differentiates ‘noise’ from true signal to clean up images resulting in high-quality scans free from distortion. It helps to preserve edges, improve textures and maintain details to assist with clearer clinical interpretation. It also reduces the need for image retakes and is at a much lower patient radiation dose than offered before for CT. It is now being used by dozens of hospitals across the UK bringing benefits to patients.

“Artificial Intelligence in imaging is about solving many of the challenges in modern healthcare. This includes providing the tools to help clinicians make confident decisions faster when faced with growing backlogs; to help simplify workflows that can optimise staffing and equipment resource deployment; and about reducing the stress and exhaustion on health professionals,” states Mark Hitchman, Managing Director at Canon Medical Systems UK.

Speed and Accuracy

Improved diagnostic accuracy is also cited as one of the benefits at NHS Lothian’s Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh using an AI-assisted CT. Along with making complex paediatric examinations easier, it speeds up scans and reduces dose for young patients. The CT Radiographer stated, “Dose reduction for paediatric patients is amazing. The 16cm detector can achieve a volume scan in 0.5 seconds on a head, which is really helpful when examining young patients – we no longer need anaesthetics or strategies to try and keep them still for as long. The fast speed really helps us perform the procedure quicker and is better for the small person concerned.”

At Wycombe Hospital, part of Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, the Deputy Lead MRI Radiographer gave feedback on The AI-assisted MRI stating that, “The Advanced intelligent Clear-IQ Engine Deep Learning reconstruction technology produces great images that are detailed and low in noise. This reduces scan times and produces valuable diagnostic images first time.”

Gathering up data to teach AI and cement its place in daily clinical practice

“Great strides are being made on the visionary future of AI,” continues Mark Hitchman. “Behind every deeplearning innovation there is lots of data – this is what builds the algorithms and feeds the machines with knowledge. It is the decanting of this relevant healthcare data safely, which is pseudonymised to ensure protection of patients’ personal details, that is key to accelerating the pace of turning great AI ideas into daily clinical practice reality. The big data sources include patient medical records, CT or MRI scan images, pharmacy records, laboratory results and all the other sub-sectors of the healthcare ecosystem. Each AI application needs up to 100,000 data sets or even more to learn from along with a development process involving human clinical evaluation.”

He continues, “Canon Medical UK is very proud to have a home-grown hub of AI research and development via Canon Medical Research Europe based in Edinburgh. This group of software engineers and architects collaborates with 15 partners in the UK across academia, the NHS and industry via its Safe-Haven Artificial Intelligence Platform (SHAIP). This means, in essence, that the data being used to develop future AI innovations is gathered from UK specific data sources, making the development accurate and specific to our patient populations, at the same time as working closely with colleagues in Japan, China, Europe and the USA.”

Ian Watson, Director of Commercial Solutions at Canon Medical Systems UK explains how overcoming the challenges in UK healthcare isn’t purely down to advancements in medical technology and AI, but also about the transformation of healthcare delivery through innovating staffing models, accelerating preventative health strategies and thinking outside the box on building design.

Winter pressure strategies now in full force, UK healthcare continues to battle the headwinds of catching up on pandemic-related backlogs, workforce shortages and burnouts, plus the ever-growing patient waiting lists.

The advent of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) can be applauded for the success of increasing the number of diagnostic imaging tests and scans accessible to patients over the last twelve months, addressing some of the challenges and delays associated with the Covid-era. This momentum seems set to continue with a total of 160 CDCs promised by March 2025. However, the conceptional aim of preventative health closer to the community still has some way to go.

The holy grail of CDCs would be to further the advancement of predictive health with early detection of disease, saving greatly on the economic burden over the long term. For example, when wellness can be prescribed through lifestyle changes such as sport or diet, these changes can save time and money, rather than waiting for the grip of disease that may result in hospital stays, anaesthetics, surgical interventions and ongoing medication.

The transformation of modern healthcare in these inclement times goes further than increasing capacity of services and numbers of imaging systems inside the NHS, it also requires strategic consideration of how to innovate the deployment of healthcare human resources, healthcare buildings, and working further towards preventative health.

Technology enables an extended reach of compassionate carers
Let’s talk technology first. Since the arrival of Artificial Intelligence (AI), replacing people has never been the objective. Clinicians and care givers are the beating heart of our health service, and the innovation of technology solutions is to power productivity so that healthcare professionals can spend more quality time with their patients or help to expand specialist clinical services.

In recent times, AI for healthcare has become big news, promising a reduction in error rates to automate processes and diagnostic decisions. It also heralds an opportunity to assist with routine tasks to alleviate bottlenecks and burnouts. Remote imaging command centres – connecting multiple geographically spread experts through advanced health IT to radiographers at various locations to provide real-time support over many procedures and extended hours – also looks to help with this. Speeding up clinical decision making and treatment planning will further play a part in helping to overcome local resourcing challenges.

Co-providing service delivery with the NHS
Pressure on healthcare resourcing has been long predicted due to retirement rates in specialities such as radiology, and the replacement delays from long training timeframes for new recruits. Covid has added to this workforce crisis with well documented burnouts of NHS staff who had to just keep going through the darkest days. Despite the introduction of new systems and strategies to catch up on the growing waiting lists, new community-based diagnosis centres cannot operate without people power.

Working with our industry partners, we’re also aiming to introduce fresh new ideas on staffing models in primary and secondary care, to work alongside the arrival of new CT or MRI scanners and operating CDCs. This collaborative approach is about working with the NHS to improve productivity by creating a rich talent pool, not poaching valuable staff members, and build back resilience in existing people by creating flexible roles and training new individuals for the future. Unique times call for unique and hybrid delivery models.

Click-together healthcare facilities to flex up & down
Finally, the location of community-based healthcare diagnostics, away from the hospital estate, needs to be answered. Unused retail or business units have been an option in our metamorphosing town centres, however surveying, planning, and building bricks and mortar options creates delays of up to two years and increases cost implications. Quick to create and easy to deploy diagnostic modular buildings that can ‘click-together’ to flex up and down with capacity needs are a swifter and more economical solution.

This concept isn’t new to us, it is how we deployed our NHS Covid response scanner units in just 12 weeks from order and build to delivery, creating more flexible capacity and further space to solve covid-clean patient pathways during the height of the pandemic. It is also the historical theory behind mobile scanning units, but these differ from the more personalised patient experience promised by NHS CDC aims.

Quick build modular options create greater flexibility than traditional new builds, remodelling works, or steps-up-into relocatable units. The very nature of the clinical-grade modular buildings means that they can be deployed and redeployed into areas that need them most. They can be quickly clicked together and taken apart like building blocks to scale community centres across the standard, large, plus hub and spoke models of CDC delivery. This aligns with patient population or postcode clinical capacity needs, meeting health equality objectives, whilst honouring NHS net-zero sustainability and carbon reduction aims.

Healthcare has never needed a more agile approach. The four Ps of Productivity, Prevention, People, and Place should be the transformational aims.

Deep intelligence technologies to modernise cardiac, stroke & cancer services for patients   

Two top-of-the-range Artificial Intelligence (AI) assisted, spectral, wide-detector CT scanners will be supplied by Canon Medical Systems UK to Craigavon Area Hospital, part of Southern Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland, for a £6.8 million ‘twin’ CT suite development. The new diagnostic imaging systems will help to improve the standard of care delivered to patients by cutting waiting times, expanding the range of local imaging services and providing enhanced image quality outputs for more certain, first-time clinical interpretations.

The advanced scanning protocols on the new spectral Canon Medical CT scanners will aim to improve stroke, cancer and cardiac imaging services offered to all Southern Health and Social Care Trust’s local catchment area. Presently, due to limited scanning capabilities, advanced scans like cardiac CT are outsourced and patients have to travel longer distances to obtain the scan. Providing advanced scanning onsite will not only improve service capacity but will also improve patient accessibility to diagnostic services closer to home.

The Aquilion ONE / PRISM Edition CT scanners will be capable of rapid and accurate detection of stroke via brain perfusion and AI technologies. Spectral CT scanning will reduce the requirement for follow-up appointments by allowing earlier characterisation of abnormalities which will also help in providing highly efficient cancer work-up. Advanced cardiac CT capabilities along with AI will also improve patient comfort and satisfaction by reducing requirement for invasive cardiac catheterisation procedures.

Billy Erwin, Account Manager at Canon Medical Systems UK states, “The development of the new twin CT suite with joint control room at Craigavon Area Hospital has been six years in the making.  We have been part of the project management team for the new CT facility build, guiding the room design, supporting safety features, and planning delivery access. This has aimed to reduce the stress on hospital clinical teams by ensuring smooth equipment planning and commissioning logistics. We are looking forward to playing a central role in delivering the CT technology and see it fulfil many clinical and efficiency benefits for the radiology team and patients served.”

The chosen Aquilion ONE / PRISM Edition CT scanners from Canon Medical UK are powered by technologies from the ‘Altivity’ suite of Deep Intelligence innovations for diagnostic imaging. This includes: Advanced intelligent Clear-IQ Engine (AiCE), a reconstruction technology delivering sharp, clear, and distinct images at high speed and low dose; and Deep Learning Spectral Reconstruction delivering energy separation and low-noise properties integrated into end-to-end workflow for routine protocols. This automatically reconstructs monochromatic images, material specific reconstructions, and iodine maps to provide the clinical images needed direct to the Canon Medical Vitrea™ visualisation applications.

Photo caption: Two top-of-the-range AI-assisted, spectral, wide-detector CT scanners from Canon Medical Systems UK have been ordered by Craigavon Area Hospital, part of Southern Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland, for a £6.8 million ‘twin’ CT suite development.