BÆRUM HOSPITAL (VG) Devijit Bhuller (41) thought he broke his middle finger after a football match. He got a negative X-ray result a few minutes later, which was obtained by the AI.
Devijit Bhuller, 41, calmly places his hand under the X-ray machine. Radiologist Jonas Vatel checks that it is positioned correctly and takes several pictures. On the other side of the glass wall is a computer. What is new is that it contains an artificial intelligence application that analyzes images in real time.
Bahuler was suffering from pain in his finger after colliding with the goalkeeper during a football match.
Within a few minutes, the answer is available. It says no “negative” in capital letters. The 41-year-old did not break his finger and could be sent home immediately.
– If I try to grab something, my finger is weak. It was very nice to see that it wasn’t broken. “I was surprised that the result came so quickly,” he says.
Next to him is radiologist Tahir Alibhi Hansen. Quality guarantees response within 24 hours to ensure that breaches are not tolerated.
– It’s very reassuring if a person is also looking at the pictures, says Buhler.
Thousands of photos
This is the new everyday life at Barome Hospital. This week they launched AI as part of hospital imaging diagnostics. They will soon be putting him on analyzes other than X-rays for possible fractures.
Over the course of a year, 300,000 imaging scans are carried out at the health company Vestre Viken, of which the Bærum Hospital is a part. Every day, about 40 urgent radiographic examinations are performed where questions about fractures are raised.
– We have a lot to do. “We’re seeing a huge increase in diagnostic imaging,” says Bjorn Anton Graf, Research and Innovation Officer.
The increase he is referring to is 12.5 per cent annually. At Barome, the waiting time for a diagnostic imaging procedure is long. The bottleneck is having enough radiologists and radiographers. Between 60 and 70 percent of the images taken show no fracture.
– We must have the means to deal with this increase, says Graf.
– We see AI as one of the most important steps we can take, says radiologist and research consultant Ian Tveten.
Millionaire Project
The solution is therefore being rolled out at Baroom Hospital this week, but is scheduled to be implemented in several new hospitals in the Southeast Health District. The goal is to use AI in 60% of all diagnostic imaging in healthcare by 2030.
The app can be used to analyze potential fracture injuries for patients down to two-year-olds.
The fact that negative results are automatic means we can focus more on sick patients, says radiologist Hansen.
To date, seven million grants have been received for this project from the Southeast Health Organization. It is estimated that the cost savings in the future will be significant, but Graf and Tveten do not want to quantify it.
The biggest gain now is saving waiting time for patients, Graf says.
trial period
The app has been tested on about 500 X-rays since May before the summer, but only launched into normal operation this week.
– This solution is not ideal. What we found is that the solution is almost as good as a radiologist’s, Graf says.
– When a radiologist detects a fracture, it’s easy to overlook other findings in the image. Here we witnessed that AI detected some fractures that we ignored, says radiologist Ramprabananth Sivanandan, says radiologist Ramprabananth Sivanandan.
And the cost of the application?
– The more patients we use the app on, the cheaper it gets. Tveten replies that the cost is a few kroner per test.
Patient Bhuller is convinced to use AI to examine his hand.
– He says it is very interesting and exciting that AI will be integrated into the healthcare system.
“Web specialist. Lifelong zombie maven. Coffee ninja. Hipster-friendly analyst.”
