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A team of researchers are developing the use of an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm with the aim of diagnosing deep vein thrombosis (DVT) more quickly and as effectively as traditional radiologist-interpreted diagnostic scans, potentially cutting down long patient waiting lists and avoiding patients unnecessarily receiving drugs to treat DVT when they don’t have it.

Healthcare worker using an ultrasound scan machine on a patients leg

DVT is a type of blood clot most commonly formed in the leg, causing swelling, pain and discomfort - if left untreated, it can lead to fatal blood clots in the lungs. 30-50% of people who develop a DVT can go on to have long-term symptoms and disability.

Researchers at Oxford University, Imperial College and the University of Sheffield collaborated with the tech company ThinkSono (which is led by Fouad Al-Noor and Sven Mischkewitz), to train a machine learning AI algorithm (AutoDVT) to distinguish patients who had DVT from those without DVT. The AI algorithm accurately diagnosed DVT when compared to the gold standard ultrasound scan, and the team worked out that using the algorithm could potentially save health services $150 per examination.

'Traditionally, DVT diagnoses need a specialist ultrasound scan performed by a trained radiographer, and we have found that the preliminary data using the AI algorithm coupled to a hand-held ultrasound machine shows promising results,' said study lead Dr Nicola Curry, a researcher at Oxford University’s Radcliffe Department of Medicine and clinician at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Read the full story on the University of Oxford website