Health service project uses artificial intelligence to highlight risks detected in patients’ lungs then deploys robotic technology to conduct initial biopsies, cutting down lengthy process of repeat scans and procedures
The National Health Service has started a pilot programme that is deploying artificial intelligence and robotic technology to speed up the diagnosis of lung cancer.
The project, which launched at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London last month, uses AI software to rapidly analyse lung scans and flag small lumps that are most likely to be cancerous. Then, a robotic camera is used to guide biopsy tools through the patients’ airways with far greater precision than standard techniques.
Under the approach being trialled, patients with suspected lung cancer will get answers much sooner than would have previously been the case – speeding up the onset of treatment.
NHS England said that, for many patients, weeks of repeat scans and procedures could be replaced with a single, half-hour cancer biopsy, reducing prolonged uncertainty and avoiding more invasive surgery.
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The robotic technology can reach nodules that are as small as 6mm and hidden deep in patients’ lungs – something that would often be too risky or too difficult using traditional methods, according to the NHS. Once AI has highlighted higher-risk areas, doctors can take a precise tissue sample, which is sent to specialist laboratories and reviewed by expert cancer teams to confirm or rule out cancer.
NHS England said that, if the trial is shown to be effective, the technology could help transform lung cancer diagnosis as screening increasingly identifies more people with very small nodules that would previously have gone undetected until much later.
Prof Peter Johnson, NHS England’s national clinical director for cancer, called the pilot “a glimpse of the future of cancer detection”.
“Waiting to find out if you might have cancer is incredibly stressful for patients and their families,” he said. “Our lung cancer screening programme means that we are picking up more cancers at an early stage than ever, and by bringing AI and robotics together in this trailblazing NHS pilot, we’re bringing in the very latest technology to give clinicians a clearer look inside the lungs and support faster, more accurate biopsies. Innovation like this is exactly how we can help diagnose more cancers faster, so treatment can be most effective, and why the NHS continues to lead the way in bringing new technology safely into frontline care.”
The pilot is planned to expand to King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, allowing more patients referred with suspected lung cancer to benefit from the new approach.
It comes against the backdrop of wider efforts to step up lung-cancer screening in England, with 1.4 million people set to be invited for a lung cancer check next year alone.
NHS England said lung cancer contributed to a whole year of the nine-year life expectancy gap between richer and poorer parts of England. It said the National Cancer Plan will prioritise solving inequalities to ensure patients can get fairer and faster access to cancer care.
