The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended five AI technologies for use in the NHS to help doctors spot prostate cancer more accurately on MRI scans. Further evidence will be generated and analysed as to how they perform in real world situations

NICE says the AI tools could act like a second pair of eyes, are designed to highlight areas on a prostate MRI scan where cancer might be present, making them easier to spot and report. 

The recommended technologies are AI-Rad Companion Prostate MR, DeepHealth Prostate, ProstatID, Prostate Intelligence (Pi) and QP-Prostate.

MRI scans can play an important role in helping clinicians distinguish whether someone may need a biopsy or other tests to confirm if cancer that needs treatment is present. 

Demand for prostate MRI scans has increased in recent years, placing additional pressure on radiology services. These new technologies could help to free up time and capacity for clinicians to focus on supporting patients.

Dr Adrian Hayter, GP and chief medical officer at NICE said “These tools could help radiologists identify clinically significant prostate cancer more accurately and consistently, while helping NHS services manage growing demand for scans”. "They would support, not replace, radiologists, who would still review the scan and the AI results before any decisions about patient care,"