More than 2,000 NHS patients across 10 hospital trusts have taken part in a pioneering bowel cancer screening programme using artificial intelligence (AI) to better predict the development of cancer.
The COLO-DETECT trial - run from the South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust and supported by funding from the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation - is testing whether a tool called GI [Gastro-intestinal] Genius improves the number of polyps discovered during an colonoscopy.
A polyp can develop into bowel cancer. The idea is to use GI Genius to improve colonoscopies - especially if the AI thinks there could be areas of a person's intestine that have not been explored during the procedure. The trial is led by Professor Colin Rees, who works at the South Tyneside and Sunderland trust and is also a professor at Newcastle University.
