Kalidindi Sadhana, Gandhi Sanjay
Radiology, University of Bristol, Bristol, GBR.
Radiology, North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol, GBR.
Cureus. 2023 Aug 21;15(8):e43866. doi: 10.7759/cureus.43866. eCollection 2023 Aug.
Radiology has seen rapid growth over the last few decades. Technological advances in equipment and computing have resulted in an explosion of new modalities and applications. However, this rapid expansion of capability and capacity has not been matched by a parallel growth in the number of radiologists. This has resulted in global shortages in the workforce, with the UK being one of the most affected countries. The UK National Health Service has been employing several conventional strategies to deal with the workforce situation with mixed success. The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) tools that have the potential to increase efficiency and efficacy at various stages in radiology has made it possible for radiology departments to use new strategies and workflows that can offset workforce shortages to some extent. This review article discusses the current and projected radiology workforce situation in the UK and the various strategies to deal with it, including applications of AI in radiology. We highlight the benefits of AI tools in improving efficiency and patient safety. AI has a role along the patient's entire journey from the clinician requesting the appropriate radiological investigation, safe image acquisition, alerting the radiologists and clinicians about critical and life-threatening situations, cancer screening follow up, to generating meaningful radiology reports more efficiently. It has great potential in easing the workforce crisis and needs rapid adoption by radiology departments.
在过去几十年里，放射学发展迅速。设备和计算机技术的进步催生了大量新的检查方式和应用。然而，能力和容量的这种快速扩张并未伴随着放射科医生数量的相应增长。这导致了全球范围内的劳动力短缺，英国是受影响最严重的国家之一。英国国民医疗服务体系一直在采用多种传统策略来应对劳动力状况，但成效不一。人工智能（AI）工具的出现有可能在放射学的各个阶段提高效率和效能，这使得放射科能够采用新的策略和工作流程，在一定程度上弥补劳动力短缺。这篇综述文章讨论了英国目前及预计的放射学劳动力状况以及应对之策，包括人工智能在放射学中的应用。我们强调了人工智能工具在提高效率和患者安全方面的益处。人工智能在患者的整个就医过程中都能发挥作用，从临床医生要求进行适当的放射学检查、安全的图像采集、提醒放射科医生和临床医生注意危急和危及生命的情况、癌症筛查随访，到更高效地生成有意义的放射学报告。它在缓解劳动力危机方面具有巨大潜力，放射科需要迅速采用。
