Hospitals in Greater Manchester, including Stepping Hill Hospital,  are to begin using an new AI (artificial intelligence) technology which will help doctors to detect diseases, including lung cancer, quicker.

The new technology will be rolled out at seven NHS Trusts across the region over the next few months as part of a partnership between Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance, Greater Manchester Imaging Network and global health tech firm Annalise.ai. It has now gone live at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, with other trusts to follow soon.

It will see an AI-powered chest X-ray decision-support system used to read chest X-rays. The tool can detect up to 124 findings on chest radiographs – which will help healthcare professionals detect diseases, including lung cancer, quicker.

When the Annalise.ai chest X-ray solution identifies potential lung cancer cases, the information is relayed to the reporting medical provider in under a minute. This allows healthcare professionals to prioritise the review of the chest x-rays identified as suspicious, helping to detect (or rule out) cancer more quickly. The tool will enhance efficiency and care quality within lung cancer detection in Stockport and other parts of Greater Manchester.

Integrating the Annalise.ai solution through Sectra Imaging - a leading imaging IT provider to health systems worldwide - across all seven Trusts within the Greater Manchester Imaging Network, will allow a comprehensive evaluation of this technology across the region, which has a population of 2.8 million people.  It is being funded by from the Artificial Intelligence Diagnostics Fund (AIDF).

The need to detect cancer more quickly is particularly urgent in Greater Manchester, where lung cancer rates sit at 24% above the national average and life expectancy is lower than in England as a whole.

The project forms part of a wider programme of work being led by the Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance, with the aim of improving cancer outcomes and experiences for the population of Greater Manchester.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:

“When I was diagnosed with cancer, a world-class surgeon equipped with a robot helped save my life – showcasing the very best of our NHS.

“Breakthroughs like this AI tool will help to save lives across the country, speeding up diagnosis so that doctors can provide the best possible treatments to patients sooner.

"As part of our 10 Year Health Plan, I am determined that we embrace this kind of innovation and shift the health service from analogue to digital, so more patients can get their lives back.” 

Andrew Loughney, Medical Director for Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, said:

“This new technology is a fantastic new step forward in the earlier detection of lung cancer, which we believe will mean better results for patients, and ultimately saving lives.

“We are very proud that Stockport is one of the first sites to use this technology, and look forward to seeing the results.”

Andy Burnham as Mayor of Greater Manchester and co-chair, Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership

“We know we have higher rates of lung cancer in Greater Manchester than elsewhere in the country, so I’m delighted to see this new partnership which we hope will help to get treatment to people sooner. I’m glad to see Greater Manchester leading the way in this area.”

UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Peter Kyle MP said:

“As someone who has lost their mum and dad to cancer, I know how important it is to accelerate medical innovation, through genuine collaborations like this one, to prevent this disease from breaking up families.

“The roll out of this AI tool in Greater Manchester’s hospitals proves that by working together, researchers, businesses and our NHS can harness the potential of emerging technologies to save lives up and down the country.”

Dr Rhidian Bramley, Consultant Radiologist at The Christie and Diagnostic, Digital and Innovation lead with the Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance, said:

“We are excited to lead this collaborative project across Greater Manchester. Our ambition is to use this innovative technology to support patient care.

“This collaboration marks a significant step towards understanding the role of AI in healthcare in the UK with the potential to improve outcomes for patients with lung cancer.

“We hope it will help us to streamline the patient journey by allowing us to diagnose cancer more quickly. This will mean patients get a better experience and can begin treatment sooner which will hopefully lead to them having a better outcomes.”

Chris Sleight, Chief Officer, Greater Manchester Imaging Network, said:

“We are thrilled to have been awarded the funding from the Artificial Intelligence Diagnostics Fund (AIDF) to help bring faster diagnosis of chest x-rays for our patients.

“This is such an exciting advancement to help us improve the detection of lung cancer earlier in the patient pathway, and therefore better prognosis. We are delighted to be working with Annalise and the Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance on such an important programme for our patients.”

Dimitry Tran, Co-founder and Deputy CEO at Annalise.ai, said:

“Following successful deployment into clinical use across multiple NHS sites in the last two years, we are delighted that this announcement means our solution can be rolled out at a national scale starting in Greater Manchester. This will unlock significant benefits for many more patients and clinicians alike, covering a third of all chest X-rays processed in the UK. 

“Our solutions are of the highest quality, rigorously validated, and engineered to meet the needs of hard-working clinicians supporting patients across England. This announcement shows a real commitment from NHS England to introducing innovation that makes a genuine difference to clinicians on the front line.”

Miss Toli Onon, Joint Chief Medical Officer at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, said:

“The integration of cutting-edge technology like Annalise for faster diagnosis of diseases like lung cancer is a fantastic development and enhances the innovative strides we are already making at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. These include the introduction of Ion, our advanced robotic lung bronchoscopy system, enabling early detection of the disease at its most treatable stages; and our pioneering Lung Health Check programme, where mobile community screening units have identified over 600 cases of lung cancer with the majority caught at early, curable stages.

“We are pleased to be involved in the roll out of this exciting piece of technology and to work closely with our partners in Greater Manchester to make the most of these advancements to improve outcomes for our patients.”

Annalise.ai was also selected as the preferred provider by five additional imaging networks across NHS England through the AIDF, meaning that Annalise.ai’s chest X-ray solution will be used to perform 2.5 million chest X-rays each year – more than one third of all chest X-rays performed across the country.