A new European Radiology study out of France highlighted how Aidoc’s pulmonary embolism AI solution can serve as a valuable emergency radiology safety net, catching PE cases that otherwise might have been missed and increasing radiologists’ confidence.
Even if that’s technically what PE AI products are supposed to do, studies using commercially available products and focusing on how AI complements radiologists (vs. comparing AI and rad accuracy) are still rare and worth a closer look.
The Diagnostic Study – A team from French telerad provider, IMADIS, analyzed AI and radiologist CTPA interpretations from patients with suspected PE (n = 1,202 patients), finding that:
- Aidoc PE achieved higher sensitivity (0.926 vs. 0.9 AUCs) and negative predictive value (0.986 vs. 0.981 AUCs)
- Radiologists achieved higher specificity (0.991 vs. 0.958 AUCs), positive predictive value (0.95 vs. 0.804 AUCs), and accuracy (0.977 vs. 0.953 AUCs)
- The AI tool flagged 219 suspicious PEs, with 176 true positives, including 19 cases that were missed by radiologists
- The radiologists detected 180 suspicious PEs, with 171 true positives, including 14 cases that were missed by AI
- Aidoc PE would have helped IMADIS catch 285 misdiagnosed PE cases in 2020 based on the above AI-only PE detection ratio (19 per 1,202 patients)
The Radiologist Survey – Nine months after IMADIS implemented Aidoc PE, a survey of its radiologists (n = 79) and a comparison versus its pre-implementation PE CTPAs revealed that:
- 72% of radiologists believed Aidoc PE improved their diagnostic confidence and comfort
- 52% of radiologists the said the AI solution didn’t impact their interpretation times
- 14% indicated that Aidoc PE reduced interpretation times
- 34% of radiologists believed the AI tool added time to their workflow
- The solution actually increased interpretation times by an average of 7.2% (+1:03 minutes)
The Takeaway
Now that we’re getting better at not obsessing over AI replacing humans, this is a solid example of how AI can complement radiologists by helping them catch more PE cases and make more confident diagnoses. Some radiologists might be concerned with false positives and added interpretation times, but the authors noted that AI’s PE detection advantages (and the risks of missed PEs) outweigh these potential tradeoffs.
