Tens of thousands of patients across the country could benefit from quicker, earlier diagnoses — and more effective treatments for a range of conditions — as the government invests nearly £16 million into pioneering artificial intelligence (AI) health technology research.

Nine companies have been awarded funding through the third round of the AI in Health and Care Awards, which is accelerating the testing and deployment of the most promising AI technologies.

Set up in 2019, the awards were designed to develop AI technology focused on helping patients manage long-term conditions and improve the speed and accuracy of diagnosis, ultimately tackling the Covid backlogs and cut waiting lists.

They are delivered between the NHS AI Lab, the Accelerated Access Collaborative and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

The winners include AI systems which can help detect cancer, diagnose rare diseases, identify people at highest risk of premature birth and support the treatment of neurological conditions like dementia.

Funding will be used to support the testing, evaluation, and adoption of their technologies by the NHS.

In total, £123 million has been invested in 86 AI technologies so far across three rounds of awards supporting over 300,00 patients and improving their care and treatment for health conditions such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mental health and neurological disorders.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Steve Barclay, said: “Artificial Intelligence has the potential to speed up diagnoses and treatments and free up time for our doctors and nurses so they can focus on caring for patients. Around 300,000 people have already benefitted from companies supported by our AI awards, with tens of thousands more set to benefit.

“These schemes includes technology that could recognise the signs of cancer more quickly and accurately, predict which women are more likely to give birth prematurely or analyse electronic health records to detect the signs of an undiagnosed rare disease.”

The Winners

Start-up Ibex has been awarded more than £1.5 million and has developed an AI-driven algorithm to run checks for breast cancer. The technology analyses images of tissue extracts, helping pathologists detect cancer so they can complete diagnoses more quickly.

Its high accuracy rate could reduce the need for patients to repeat the biopsy process and free up more time for consultants.

Researchers will analyse its findings on 10,000 patients and evaluate improvements in the quality of diagnosis, cost-effectiveness, and quicker turnaround times for patients.

Professor Emad Rakha, Honorary Consultant Pathologist at the University of Nottingham and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS trust, said: “Over the last several years in the UK, cancer cases increased while the number of pathologists decreased, resulting in record-high workloads for pathology departments.

“Timely and accurate diagnosis can significantly impact breast cancer survival rates, making Ibex’s solution a vital and welcome addition into NHS trusts.”

Another winner, medical device company Medtronic, has been rolling out devices and therapies to treat more than 30 chronic diseases, including Parkinson’s and diabetes, some of which are being trialled in the NHS.

It has been awarded £2.5 million to further develop an AI-based medical device called GI Genius, which has been trained to process colonoscopy images and detect signs of colon cancer, enabling earlier, more accurate diagnoses.

Digital health start-up Mendelian has been awarded £1.4 million to support an AI system which identifies patients with undiagnosed rare diseases, as well as recommending the best management options, by analysing electronic health records.

In the past decade, undiagnosed rare diseases have cost the NHS in excess of £3.4 billion and data shows that patients with rare diseases attend hospitals more than twice as often as other patients, costing the NHS four times as much on average.

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Dr Jackie Cook, Consultant in Clinical Genetics & Co-Clinical Director at North East and Yorkshire NHS Genomic Medicine Service Alliance, said: “Patients with rare diseases can face a long diagnostic journey, often taking many years with multiple investigations and appointments before a diagnosis is made.

“By using this technology to interrogate patient records, my hope is that patients with rare diseases will be identified much faster, avoid unnecessary investigations and achieve a diagnosis in a much shorter timeframe.”

The winners also include a consortium led by the University of Bristol which has already developed an online medical tool which is identifying pregnant people who are most at risk of giving birth prematurely or of developing complications that could lead to stillbirth.

Tommy’s App has been created to process information gathered at pregnancy check-ups which then generated a risk score for each patient.

Last year, data was published in obstetrics and gynaecology journal BJOG, showing the tool can help reduce health inequalities in Black, Asian and other pregnant people in ethnic minority groups.

Dr Bu Hayee, Consultant Gastroenterologist and Principle Investigator of Medtronic’s study, said: “There has never been a greater need for innovation in the NHS and this research may be able to shine a light on the possible benefits this technology can provide.”

Cutting NHS waiting times is one of the government’s top five priorities, backed by record funding including up to £14.1 billion for health and social care over the next two years.

Advances in innovation and technology – including in robotics and artificial intelligence – will give patients greater control and help tackle some of the biggest healthcare challenges – from cancer to genetic diseases. These kinds of innovations can free up staff time while speeding up treatments and diagnoses.