The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) has announced the creation of an artificial intelligence registry in imaging, which it hopes will “streamline and facilitate the adoption of AI by providing a comprehensive directory of all NHS sites currently using AI tools as part of their imaging work”.
At present, the RCR notes, there is no single source which shows the implementation of AI solutions in the NHS, meaning that NHS organisations and staff can find it difficult to access the information required to make decisions on which tools are available and might be useful to deploy in their hospitals.
In addition, the RCR points to the challenge that this lack of transparency presents on the vendor side, as vendors can struggle to introduce their products to potential NHS users.
Funded through the NHS AI Lab, the estimated completion date for the registry is spring 2024.
The RCR highlights that the data collection phase is still underway, and encouraging AI vendors to complete a survey in order to help strengthen the registry by including products available across all parts of the UK. The survey asks for information around product names, sub-specialities, intended use, deployment sites, project stages and more, and can be accessed here.
In other AI news, last month The Department of Health and Social Care announced £21 million in funding for artificial intelligence technologies to support further roll-out. The funding is intended to help accelerate diagnosis for conditions such as cancers, strokes and heart conditions.
