LONDON: An artificial intelligence tool that rapidly analyses brain scans of stroke patients has significantly improved recovery outcomes across England’s healthcare system.
The National Health Service confirmed this technology has helped boost chances of full recovery since its nationwide implementation last year.
This innovative system diagnoses stroke type and severity from brain scans while assisting doctors in making faster treatment decisions.
It was deployed across over 100 NHS stroke centres and has potentially helped thousands of patients achieve complete recovery.
Early analysis shows the AI technology crucially reduces hospital admission to treatment time by 60 minutes.
The system has tripled the likelihood of recovery without disability from 16% to 48% according to health service data.
NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Stroke David Hargroves described this AI decision support technology as revolutionary for stroke care.
He emphasised that patients lose approximately two million brain cells per minute during stroke onset making rapid intervention critical.
Stroke remains the fourth leading cause of death in the United Kingdom with around 38,000 related fatalities annually.
The UK government co-founded an international network of health regulators focusing on AI implementation in June.
This initiative aims to accelerate the safe integration of trusted AI tools into clinical settings nationwide.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s administration hopes this technology will help overhaul the healthcare system and reduce patient waiting lists. – AFP
