The team behind the University of Aberdeen’s GEMINI, an AI breast cancer screening project, scooped the ‘Data Driven Innovation Award’ at this year’s Digital Health and Care Awards.

The GEMINI (Grampian’s Evaluation of Mia in an Innovative National breast screening Initiative) project was devised to understand the impact of introducing AI into the breast screening programme at NHS Grampian.

The multidisciplinary team, including experts from NHS Grampian and Kheiron Medical Technologies Ltd. – which is now part of DeepHealth – was awarded the accolade at a ceremony in Edinburgh on Tuesday night (18 February).

Hosted by Holyrood Events, the awards are an opportunity to highlight ‘the achievements of the individuals and teams working in the health, social care, and housing sectors, whose innovation and creativity continue to put Scotland at the forefront of the digital revolution’.

The GEMINI trial, led and hosted by NHS Grampian, helped doctors find 10.4% more cancers than in routine practice by using the AI tool to assist radiologists. Together, health, academic and industry professionals demonstrated that integrating AI into breast screening could improve cancer detection, maintain recall rates, and reduce workload by up to 36%.

In the GEMINI study, software named ‘Mia’, created by Kheiron, was independently evaluated by the University of Aberdeen. The winning team assert that their ‘outstanding partnership of academic, clinical and operational experts has set new standards in assessing such technologies’.

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Professor Lesley Anderson, chair in Health Data Science who led the evaluation of the software said: “We are thrilled to win the Digital Health Care Award for Data Driven Innovation. It recognizes the tireless efforts of our dedicated teams and the transformative potential of data innovation in improving healthcare outcomes. This award inspires us to continue pushing the boundaries of what data can achieve in the health sector.”

Gerald Lip, cinical director, North East of Scotland Breast Screening Programme and Consultant Radiologist at NHS Grampian added: “It is fantastic to see the GEMINI project recognised by this award.

“This demonstrates the value of a partnership approach to getting the best possible care by harnessing NHS data at scale in a safe patient focused manner and highlights the whole team’s pursuit of excellence in developing AI-driven solutions that enhance patient outcomes and streamline medical processes.”

The team was nominated for two awards: the ‘Industry Collaboration Award’ and the ‘Data Driven Innovation Award’.