New artificial intelligence technology being trialed in Leeds could speed up urgent cancer referrals.
The PinPoint blood test has been designed as a ”decision support tool” to help doctors triage patients more effectively. Its machine learning algorithm searches for signs of cancer in 31 standard markers in a blood sample and takes into account a patient’s age and sex and uses all this data to come up with a probability.
Red results would have referrals accelerated, Amber would be referred as normal and Green would be sent to a GP to explore alternative diagnoses for their symptoms.
The system, which has been developed in Leeds, bases its results on anonymous medical data.
“Our technology can transform the approach to diagnostics for cancer. The PinPoint test accurately calculates an individual’s risk profile based on historic data from more patients than a doctor could see in a lifetime and can become an important tool for supporting clinical decision making,” explained Giles Tully, CEO of PinPoint Data Science.
The system is now being trialed by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, as part of the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance service’s evaluation to see if it can improve early detection, cut waiting times and reduce anxiety among those unlikely to have cancer.
“We need to start thinking differently about our cancer pathways because of huge demand and capacity issues causing bottlenecks across the NHS,” said Dr Nisha Sharma, Consultant Radiologist and Director of Breast Screening at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
“The PinPoint test has the potential to help clinicians to prioritise those at high risk and make the process less fraught for patients.”
The PinPoint system was created by Leeds-based PinPoint Data Science in collaboration with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Leeds with support from the Leeds Academic Health Partnership, Yorkshire and Humber Academic Health Science Network and the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance.
It has received more than £1.7m in grants from SBRI Healthcare and the national NHS Cancer Programme to help roll-out the test more widely.
