Sheffield AI heart disease innovation features on BBC Panorama

The programme, which aired on BBC One on Monday, March 24, profiled how artificial intelligence (AI) tools developed by clinicians and scientists from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Sheffield are being used within the NHS to speed up heart disease diagnosis.

In the episode Panorama journalist Alison Holt speaks to Professor Andy Swift, Honorary Consultant Radiologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and Professor of Cardiothoracic Radiology at the University of Sheffield, to find out how the AI performs a super-fast analysis of the images and scans of the heart, reducing waiting times and improving care.

While at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Alison meets with the team whilst Rozy Begum, who suffers with increased breathlessness due to high pressure in the blood vessels that go from her heart to her lungs, undergoes an MRI scan on her heart.

Professor Swift explains how the AI – which was trained on patient scans – is used to speed up analysis of images and scans of the heart, performing complex measurements of the heart’s function within minutes which would previously have been available hours or a day after the scan was performed.

Without the AI, these would otherwise have to be calculated by radiographers or doctors painstakingly drawing round images of the heart’s chambers on multiple images.

Improving speed, accuracy and care

As well improving speed and accuracy, the AI has released vital NHS resource for the wider benefit of the NHS and heart disease patients. So, for example, it would take Professor Swift the equivalent of two years to analyse 10,000 patient scans. The AI, however, can process them in less than a few minutes.

For Rozy, the super-fast AI analysis means key decisions about treatment and management of her heart condition, can be made sooner, reducing anxiety and enabling her to access the care she needs.

Alison is also shown how a novel element of the AI technology that has become available in Sheffield rapidly reconstructs the scan, reducing scan time by half.

Professor Andy Swift told the BBC: “In the time that we've saved, we've managed to scan more patients and also do more reports for patients.”

The AI tools were developed with the support of clinical scientist colleagues including Dr Kavita Karunasagaraar, Dr Samer Alabed and Dr Pete Metherall, with the MRI AI segmentation winning an NHS Parliamentary Award Future NHS award in 2023.

'Fixing the NHS: What will it Take?' can be watched on BBC iPlayer. The episode is led by Alison Holt, the BBC's Social Affairs Editor.