AI usage in transplantations will save tens of millions of dollars and lives

According to Duncan MacRae's article in AI News from March 2, 2023, a new technique to evaluate the quality of organs available for donation is expected to revolutionize the transplant system and save tens of millions of dollars and lives.

Organ Quality Assessment, a new technique being developed with more than £1 million in support from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) (OrQA). To assess the quality of an organ, it functions similarly to face recognition technology based on artificial intelligence.

According to estimates, the technique might increase the number of kidney transplant recipients by up to 200 and liver recipients by up to 100 every year in the UK.

The best course of treatment for patients with organ failure is transplantation, but some organs are unable to be used due to concerns that they won't function properly after transplantation, according to Colin Wilson, a transplant surgeon at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and co-leader of the project.

"The program we have created "scores" the organ's quality and intends to assist surgeons in determining if the organ is in good enough condition for transplantation.

Our ultimate goal with OrQA is to increase the number of patients who get life-saving transplants and provide them the opportunity to live better, longer lives.

Currently, when an organ becomes available, it is evaluated by a surgical team by sight, which means that occasionally, organs will be deemed not suitable for transplant, according to Professor Hassan Ugail, director of the Centre for Visual Computing at the University of Bradford, whose team is working on image analysis as part of the research.

We are creating a deep machine learning system that will analyze donor organ photos more accurately than the human eye can see by training it with hundreds of photographs of human organs.

In the end, a surgeon will be able to snap a picture of the given organ, send it to OrQA, and get a prompt response on how to utilize it most effectively.

In the UK, there are now close to 7,000 individuals in need of organ transplants. An organ can only stay alive for a brief period of time outside of the body. Most of the time, it is only feasible to make one trip from the donor hospital to the receiving hospital. This indicates that it is crucial that the appropriate choice be taken without delay.

In order to conduct research for the NHS, the initiative is sponsored by the NIHR Blood and Transplant Research Unit, Quality in Organ Donation biobank, and NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT). Academics from the Universities of New South Wales and Oxford are also involved. ?

"This is an exciting development in technological infrastructure that, once validated, will enable surgeons and transplant clinicians to make more informed decisions about organ usage and help to close the gap between those patients waiting for and those receiving lifesaving organs," said Professor Derek Manas, medical director of NHSBT Organ Donation and Transplantation. NHSBT is fully dedicated to seeing this great project through to completion.

"Technology has the potential to revolutionize the way we care for people, and this cutting-edge technology will enhance organ transplant services," said Health Minister Neil O'Brien. This ground-breaking new technique, created here in the UK, may be able to save hundreds of lives while ensuring the greatest possible use of donated organs.

"I urge everyone to register their choice to donate their organs. Share it with your loved ones so they may abide by your desires and perhaps rescue others.

"Funded by our Invention for Innovation Programme, this deep machine learning algorithm seeks to improve the number of liver and kidney donor organs eligible for transplantation," said Professor Lucy Chappell, chief executive of the NIHR. Here is just another illustration of how AI might improve and streamline our healthcare system. Innovative technology like this carries the genuine possibility of saving and enhancing lives after it has been scientifically vetted and evaluated.

Work on "proof of concept" transplants of the liver, kidney, and pancreas has been done, and liver and kidney pre-clinical testing is now at an advanced level.

Within two years, it is envisaged that the OrQA software would be prepared for a licensing study inside the NHS. Also, the instrument could be marketed internationally.