The NHS Artificial Intelligence Lab is looking at the possibilities of a medical imaging platform using the technology.
It is preparing to run a discovery exercise to inform the development a National Medical Imaging Platform and has begun to look for private sector support in the initiative.
The market notice says the platform would enable NHS trusts to plug in for access to a collection of images, reviewed by validated medical algorithms to support the diagnosis of conditions among population groups.
It points to five workstreams: system level engagement and buy-in; end user definition for data pipelines and a trusted research environment; end user assessment for deployment; activities required to begin building data pipelines and the trusted research environment; and the development of a deployment platform.
The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the potential for medical imaging systems powered by AI, and the platform would create a pipeline for patient data to be used within AI tech.
The NHS AI Lab, which was created last year within NHSX, provides a forum for academics, specialists and technology companies to harness the technology for healthcare. It has a wider work programme to create a pipeline of scalable AI technologies.
The plan has become public shortly after the Government provided £50 million to increase the use of AI by the NHS in disease diagnosis, with the money going to centres of excellence for AI in digital pathology and imaging.
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