Artificial intelligence for medical imaging has officially arrived in the Emerald Isle at Mater Misericordiae University Hospital (The Mater Hospital) in Dublin, where staff in the radiology department are using it to speed up CT screenings in the ER.

Since fully implementing the Aidoc software following trials earlier this year, the hospital has used it to assess 15,600 patient images, with the solution flagging more than 700 pathologies within just two to three minutes of a scan’s completion, including 500 intracranial hemorrhages and 200 pulmonary emboli. In outpatient care, it flagged 50 pulmonary emboli in scans performed to assess other medical conditions.

The Mater Hospital has applied the technology for CT scans of the head and spine, including pulmonary angiograms, incidental pulmonary embolism notification, intracranial hemorrhage detection on CT head scans, and cervical spine fracture detection on CT C-Spine scans.
“The overall accuracy of the software in real Irish clinical practice has been deemed to be highly sensitive and specific, with an accuracy rate of more than 90%,” said the hospital and Aidoc in a statement.

The screening platform is designed to be “always-on,” they say, analyzing medical imaging data consistently in the background to flag urgent findings and alert radiologists and staff to cases that should be prioritized and require immediate attention. In doing so, the software has reduced turnaround times, improved diagnostic accuracy, and streamlined workflow.

The Mater Hospital and Aidoc verified and tested the software in a trial phase from April to August before deploying it fully across the radiology department. The hospital says that by allowing radiologists to prioritize readings and verify the accuracy of results, the solution augments the capabilities of its radiologists rather than replaces them.

Early next year, it is planning to perform further trials on other specialized AI tools for bone and chest X-rays in the emergency department to flag pathologies and accelerate patient triage. They are expected to reduce patient waiting times and provide more free time for frontline healthcare staff to complete other important tasks.

The Mater Hospital did not respond to HCB News' request for comment in time for publication.

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