n radiology, a new AI tool is helping fill the gap left by a shortage of radiologists to read CT scans. It's also helping to improve early detection and get diagnosis data to patients faster. It's not by replacing skilled medical professionals, but assisting them.

The breakthrough came at the University of Tartu in Estonia, where computer scientists, radiologists, and medical professionals collaborated on a study published in the journal Nature.

The tool, called BMVision, uses deep learning to detect and assess kidney cancer. AI startup Better Medicine is commercializing the software. 

"Kidney cancer is one of the most common cancers of the urinary system. It is typically identified using … [CT] scans, which are carefully reviewed by radiologists. However, there are not enough radiologists, and the demand for scans is growing. This makes it more challenging to provide patients with fast and accurate results," said Dmytro Fishman, co-founder of Better Medicine, and one of the authors of the study.

Here's how the study worked:

• The AI software was tested by a team of six radiologists on a total of 2,400 scans
• Each radiologist used BMVision to help interpret 200 CT scans
• Each scan was measured twice: once with AI and once without
• Accuracy, reporting times and inter-radiologist agreement were compared
• Using the AI software reduced the time to identify, measure, and report malignant lesions by 30%
• The time for radiologists to read scans was reduced by 33% on average, and as much as 52% in some cases
• Auto-generated reports significantly reduced the time for typing and dictation
• Use of the tool improved sensitivity by about 6%, leading to greater accuracy and agreement between radiologists
• The study said AI wouldn't replace radiologists but would become a valuable assistant

In the journal article, the authors of the study concluded, "We found that BMVision enables radiologists to work more efficiently and consistently. Tools like BMVision can help patients by making cancer diagnosis faster, more reliable, and more widely available."