Ethical application of AI aims to improve patient care and treatment

Cambridge University Hospitals and Sensyne, the ethical clinical AI company, have announced a new partnership to harness AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning to drive ethical research into better health care.

Blurry image of pedestrians on a crossing

Research will focus on CUH’s areas of disease expertise and specialism in cancer, cardiovascular disease and rare diseases.

Along with 12 other NHS Trusts who have similar agreements in place, CUH will adhere to the highest levels of information governance in allowing Sensyne to access de-identified patient records in order to discover new understanding and treatments for disease.

This agreement brings the combined total of de-identified and anonymised data available to Sensyne to approximately 25.5million patients.

By searching large de-identified datasets, artificial intelligence tools can spot patterns which are otherwise indiscernible, shining light on causes of disease and opening up new treatment opportunities.

This is a vital area of research that CUH wants to support in order to provide equitable access to diagnosis and treatment for our population, but also to help address health challenges of the future, nationally and internationally.

Cancer research will by a key focus of the five-year strategic research partnership. Sensyne will use its expertise to analyse cancer patient pathways to reduce patient waiting times and improve patient care. Additionally, under the agreement, Sensyne and CUH will focus on the following areas:

  • Clinical decision tools to support patient care by developing and validating the effectiveness of new AI-enabled software tools to help clinicians analyse complex data sets to improve clinical decision-making.

  • The use of AI for the analysis of retrospective clinical data, and the generation of synthetic control arms to support clinical trials more effectively, accelerating the process of drug development for patients

  • Drug discovery by helping to discover new medicines aimed at treating rare as well as common diseases, including cardiovascular diseases and cancers.

The CUH dataset covers three million unique patient records, with approximately one million patient contacts per year from a patient population of approximately five million people. The new SRA brings Sensyne’s combined total of de-identified and anonymised patient data for medical research to approximately 25.5 million patients.

Dr Ashley Shaw, CUH Medical Director, said: “At CUH we use a wide range of research to constantly improve the lives of patients both locally and around the world. Sitting at the heart of Europe’s biggest life sciences campus, alongside some of the world’s most pre-eminent academics and industrial partners, we know the power of collaborations to bring about discoveries that will benefit us all. By searching large de-identified datasets, machine learning tools can spot patterns which are otherwise indiscernible, shedding light on causes of disease and opening up new treatment opportunities.”

Lord (Paul) Drayson PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Sensyne Health, said: “Sensyne is delighted to be working with Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, a leading national centre for the treatment of rare or complex conditions and a university teaching hospital with a worldwide reputation. Cambridge University Hospitals is also recognised as a leader in the use of digital tools and health data to improve patient care and has built a large, high quality data set as a result. The Trust has invested heavily in its digital infrastructure and the curation of its data which means we can start work immediately. Together we aim to use the power of ethical AI to make a real difference in finding new and better ways to treat cancer and other complex diseases.”

Strategic Research Agreement details
 



Read more

Looking for something specific?