Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

New reporting guidelines, jointly published in Nature Medicine and the BMJ by Oxford researchers, will ensure that early studies on using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to treat real patients will give researchers the information needed to develop AI systems safely and effectively.

A researcher typing on a laptop

Artificial Intelligence in medicine has shown promising results in numerous simulation studies, but very few AI systems have yet been used in patient care. But as a growing number of AI-driven clinical decision-support systems are progressing from development to implementation, better guidance on the reporting of human factors and early-stage clinical evaluation is needed.

Researchers from Oxford have led the development of a new guideline, DECIDE-AI, which aims to improve the reporting of research on AI systems when they are used for the first time in real clinical settings by doctors treating actual patients. It was developed based on opinions and feedback from over 150 experts across 18 countries, including computer scientists, clinicians, ethicists, patient representatives, and entrepreneurs.

Baptiste Vasey of Oxford University’s Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences said: 'While AI has shown promising results for clinical application in simulations, very few AI systems have had any significant effect on patient care so far. A major problem has been a lack of robust scientific evidence to back widespread use in clinical practice.

‘This study is the first to clearly define the minimum reporting standards for the early stage evaluation of AI-based decision support systems in clinical settings.’

Read the full story on the University of Oxford website.