Cancer care clinicians are calling for the more-widespread adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help tackle the growing demand for treatment and the skills shortage facing the health service.
A new report from Mirada Medical, entitled Unlocking the Potential of AI in Cancer Care, found that 93% of cancer care clinicians believe that AI technology should be integrated into the radiotherapy treatment pathway.
The findings come as clinical activity ramps up in light of the COVID-19 backlog and as the health service struggles with growing resource and skills shortages.
Delivering on the promise
The report also found that, despite the demand for AI to support cancer care, clinicians are struggling to find the time or expertise to facilitate the adoption of new technologies.
Respondents cited the biggest barriers as:
- No time to evaluate software (86%)
- Limited budgets for AI (76%)
- Lack of knowledge of AI within the clinic (62%)
“Oncologists are so busy they don't have time to do their day job, never mind evaluate technology”, said clinical oncologist, Dr Azeem Saleem.
“But we do also need the technology to move forward.
“I don’t know what the solution will be; accelerating the validation process, or other shortcuts, but we must be more innovative if we want to get AI technology more quickly into the system.”
The research found there is clearly an appetite to overcome the challenges and find ways to embed AI technology into cancer care workflows.And the good news is that the pandemic has shown that the NHS is capable of transforming at a much-faster rate than anyone previously imagined.
The evolution of cancer care over the last 20 months has been significant.
For example, virtual clinics and remote radiotherapy planning have become more common to ensure continued care throughout the pandemic.
The NHS also increased the use of hypofractionation, a technique where patients are given a smaller number of radiation treatments at a higher dosage rate to reduce the number of hospital visits.
Mirada’s research shows that 85% of UK clinicians believe that some of these changes will become permanent.
Jon DeVries, chief executive of Mirada Medical, said: “The pandemic has forced all of us to change the way we work, such as working remotely or changing the way radiation therapy doses are provided.
“Despite the challenges change brings; the majority of clinicians tell us that they are committed to exploring the huge possibilities that AI technology can bring to enhancing cancer care and improving patient outcomes.
“And Mirada remains committed to working with the NHS to fasttrack new and innovative solutions to the NHS frontline that benefit patients and save clinicians time.”