Kidney doctors have used AI tools to provide a super-fast analysis of kidney lifespan in patients with polycystic disease, reducing the process time to less than a minute.
Autosomal Dominant Polycystic kidney disease is an inherited kidney disease caused by the growth of fluid-filled sacs. In the UK, between 30,000 to 70,000 people have it.
Professor Albert Ong, Nephrologist and Clinical Lead for Genetics at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “ADPKD is a painful disease which typically causes kidney failure in patients at the relatively young age of 50, by automating kidney volume measurements, we have been able to predict when kidney failure is going to happen faster.
“This is important in the group of patients as once kidney failure is reached, the disease is irreversible.”
The artificial intelligence was developed from an algorithm trained by Principal scientist Jonathan Taylor, and has been used in Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s 3D Lab since 2022.
David Marshall, Chairman of Sheffield Area Kidney Association, shared his thoughts on the tool and said: “Development of any new tools that can detect early signs of Kidney disease is welcome.
“This would not only save money but enhance a patients quality of life.”
The Sheffield Area Kidney Association (SAKA) are the only local kidney charity run by patients that provides grants and support to patients and families.
Peter Joynson, secretary of SAKA, explained how he feels about the AI tool, and said: “Even though they can identify it quicker, doesn’t necessarily mean they can do something sooner.”
But Overall, Mr Joynson had positive thoughts regarding the tool and said: “It might even be more refined because AI is something that will keep on learning.”
This kind of disease would usually involve MRI scans made up of two-dimensional ‘slices’ stacked on top of each other, an extremely labour-intensive process that takes up to 1 hour. The AI has the results available in less than a minute.
With World kidney day approaching, this announcement couldn’t be more important. The team at Sheffield Teaching Hospital have also said this tool could be used in clinics worldwide.
