29 May 2019
In recent news, it has been announced that to mark the 70th birthday of the NHS, the UK Space Agency will be providing a share of £5 million to fund a project dubbed, “Earth Scan”.
The project’s full name is Early Diagnosis Real-Time Healthcare System for Cancer, and it is hoped that by using the same technology used to operate space telescopes, the process of diagnosing bowel cancer will be revolutionised.
The technology is set to be repurposed to analyse colonoscopy images, to identify characteristic early signs of bowel cancer, which might be missed by the human eye. Further, the technology will link up to a cloud-based Artificial Intelligence system that can support doctors when identifying cancer in patients. Real time support means that doctors can make immediate decision regarding treatment and patients can receive the results of their scan straight away instead of waiting weeks, helping to speed up bowel cancer diagnosis.
Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths, and one of the hardest to treat, so early detection is crucial. It is hoped that by introducing new technology, more than 20,000 cancer-related deaths will be prevented each year, by 2033.
At Williamsons we deal with a large variety of clinical negligence compensation claims including missed/delayed diagnosis of bowel cancer, which can have grave consequences for the patient.
If you feel that you have been the victim of any form of medical negligence by treatment received from the NHS, or any private hospital, GP, or other health professional, please do not hesitate to contact our Clinical Negligence Department.
