Royal Philips has installed the Philips Global worklist for mass data collection and management at the first regional hub set up to support the U.K.’s National COVID-19 Chest Imaging Database (NCCID).

The hub is the NHS’ Cheshire and Merseyside Consortium and will provide the NCCID, a centralized database of X-ray, CT and MR images, with imaging data from 13 Trusts to help develop AI solutions for the care of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and other severe infections.

"There is a need to find ways to provide continuity of care for patients with chronic conditions, to keep collaboration going between clinicians and with patients. And at the same time there is the need to gain a better understanding of this still unknown disease as quickly as possible, in order to better help people with COVID-19. The easy and safe exchange of data is essential," Jodie Bridge, precision diagnosis business leader at Philips UK&I (UK and Ireland), told HCB News.

The deployment of a single centralized and secure SMART box server has provided access to 15 years of imaging data for 2.5 million people in the region, making it the largest single data source for the NCCID.

The Philips Global worklist indexes multiple archives on servers to create a single worklist and allows for image acquisition and reporting to be performed seamlessly across multiple sites. It also can facilitate multiple trials and research projects simultaneously. Its integration with the NCIDD’s secure central SMART Box server supports mass data collection, management and de-identification and allows Cheshire and Merseyside to contribute to research in areas that require large volumes of clinical data. Access to this data is expected to enable quicker patient assessment upon arrival in emergency rooms, save radiologists’ time, increase safety and consistency of care across the country and save more lives.

The CCID database is a collaborative effort among NHSX, an organization overseeing the digital transformation of the NHS; the British Society of Thoracic Imaging; and the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust. It is expected to accelerate safe, ethical and effective adoption of AI in the healthcare sector, while regional hubs like the Cheshire and Merseyside consortium will aid in the creation of large-scale National databases.

"This could help speed up screening and diagnosis of coronavirus. For example, by supporting clinicians with automated image analysis, potentially leading to quicker treatment and less pressure on the NHS by predicting things like the need for additional ICU capacity. In the future it could also be used to develop AI solutions to address conditions such as heart disease and cancers," said Bridge.

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