Following several tender wins through NHS England’s AI Diagnostic Fund (AIDF), Annalise.ai’s chest X-ray solution will be used on 2.5 million chest X-rays annually across six imaging networks throughout England to support early lung cancer diagnosis. This represents 34.7% of all chest X-rays performed in the country each year.
The AIDF was established to accelerate the deployment of the most promising AI imaging and decision support tools to help diagnose lung cancer patients more quickly, potentially saving millions of lives. The fund provides £21 million to 12 imaging networks, covering 66 NHS trusts across England. The open and competitive tender process was managed using established frameworks.
Lung cancer is the UK’s biggest cancer killer, with nearly 35,000 deaths in the UK attributed to the disease annually, accounting for one in five (21%) of all cancer deaths. Six in ten people will survive more than five years if lung cancer is diagnosed at the earliest stage, but this falls to just one in ten for those diagnosed at the latest stage.
Annalise.ai technology is engineered to enable rapid, precise detection of up to 124 findings, including indicators of potential lung cancer, effectively serving as a second set of eyes for clinicians. It prioritises cases swiftly according to the urgency of detected findings, enhancing the triage process and optimising the reporting workflow.
Clinicians can configure the solution to group findings according to their priority level based on AI results, allowing critical cases to be rapidly flagged. The technology also adds significant value by identifying acute conditions such as chest sepsis and malpositioned lines and tubes, promoting safety for ICU patients, and helping reduce the occurrence of never events in hospitals.
Additionally, Annalise.ai’s chest X-ray solution output can be used in the reporting environment to support draft reports for radiologists to review and approve, helping to manage workloads.
This announcement means Annalise.ai’s solutions will now also be available in Greater Manchester, North East and North Cumbria Imaging Network, Cheshire and Merseyside Radiology Imaging Network, East Midlands Imaging Network, Surrey, Sussex and Frimley Imaging Network and the Yorkshire Imaging Collaborative.
Annalise.ai solutions are already available in more than 40 countries, and the NHS tender wins follow successful deployments of the chest X-ray AI solution at NHS trusts including NHS Grampian and University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.
Results from NHS Grampian, where Annalise.ai technology is already deployed, found that using the solution reduced the time between chest X-ray assessment and commencement of lung cancer treatment by nine days on average. Previously the Trust started treatment for 90% of people with lung cancer within 99 days. The addition of Annalise.ai’s chest X-ray solution has reduced this to 76 days, and the proportion of cancers identified at earlier stages increased by 27%.
Dimitry Tran, co-founder and Deputy CEO at Annalise.ai commented: “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 deployed at a national scale. This will unlock significant benefits for many more patients and clinicians alike covering a third of all chest X-rays processed in the UK.
"This announcement shows a real commitment from NHSE to introducing innovation that makes a genuine difference to clinicians on the front line.”
Professor Catherine Jones, UK-trained radiologist based in Australia and Board Director of the Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists added: "Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers globally and is increasing in frequency year on year in the UK. Unfortunately, as the symptoms can be vague and non-specific, lung cancer is often diagnosed late, and the survival rates remain low compared to other types of cancer.
"In the UK, as in other parts of the world, even a modest reduction in time between the initial presentation and the diagnosis can make the difference between treatable stage lung cancer, and end stage cancer which has a very poor outcome.
"Annalise.ai’s chest xray AI solution picks out the x-rays in patients without symptoms who have subtle changes of lung cancer, helping the doctors to better identify patients with small cancers which can be cured. Even in patients with symptoms who have a chest x-ray, the time taken to make a diagnosis is faster when the Annalise AI solution is used, enabling this group of patients to access treatment before their cancer becomes end stage."
Steve Holloway, Managing Director, Signify Research Limited commented: "We are at a pivotal moment in the fight against lung cancer in the UK. The AI Diagnostic Fund (AIDF) is a game changer, offering essential funding to fast-track the deployment of advanced AI imaging and decision support tools.
"This initiative represents a significant leap forward in using technology to enhance the provision of care in the UK and tackle one of the most challenging diseases of our time. Access to AI solutions, such as Annalise.ai’s will showcase the diagnostic value of the technology in the UK and as a vanguard for global adoption, while potentially reducing the burden on our healthcare workforce."
