AI Assisted Reader Evaluation in Acute Computed Tomography (CT) Head Interpretation

NCT ID: NCT06018545

Last Updated: 2025-11-24

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Total Enrollment

33 participants

Study Classification

OBSERVATIONAL

Study Start Date

2023-06-01

Study Completion Date

2025-06-01

Brief Summary

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This study has been added as a sub study to the Simulation Training for Emergency Department Imaging 2 study (ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT05427838).

The purpose of the study is to assess the impact of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool called qER 2.0 EU on the performance of readers, including general radiologists, emergency medicine clinicians, and radiographers, in interpreting non-contrast CT head scans. The study aims to evaluate the changes in accuracy, review time, and diagnostic confidence when using the AI tool. It also seeks to provide evidence on the diagnostic performance of the AI tool and its potential to improve efficiency and patient care in the context of the National Health Service (NHS). The study will use a dataset of 150 CT head scans, including both control cases and abnormal cases with specific abnormalities. The results of this study will inform larger follow-up studies in real-life Emergency Department (ED) settings.

Detailed Description

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Conditions

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Intracranial Hemorrhages Acute Ischemic Stroke Hydrocephalus Cerebral Infarction Cerebral Edema Cerebral Injury

Study Design

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Observational Model Type

COHORT

Study Time Perspective

RETROSPECTIVE

Study Groups

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Readers

30 readers will be recruited across four NHS trusts including ten general radiologists, fifteen emergency medicine clinicians, and five CT radiographers of varying seniority. Readers will interpret each scan first without, then with, the assistance of the AI tool, with an intervening 4-week washout period. Using a panel of neuroradiologists as ground truth, the stand-alone performance of qER will be assessed, and its impact on the readers' performance will be analysed as change in accuracy, mean review time per scan, and self-reported diagnostic confidence. Subgroup analyses will be performed by reader professional group, reader seniority, pathological finding, and neuroradiologist-rated difficulty.

Reading

Intervention Type OTHER

All 30 readers will review all 150 cases, in each of two study phases. The readers will provide their opinion on the presence or absence of some acute abnormalities, including intracranial haemorrhage, infarct, midline shift and fracture. They will provide a confidence in their diagnosis (10-point visual analogue scale), and a single click point to mark the location of each abnormality that they consider as being present. The time taken for each scan will be automatically recorded.

Ground truthers

Two Consultant neuroradiologists will independently review the images to establish the 'ground truth' findings on the CT scans which will be used as the reference standard. In the case of disagreement, a third senior neuroradiologist's opinion will be sought for arbitration. A difficulty score will be assigned to each scan by the ground truthers using a 5-point Likert scale.

Ground truthing

Intervention Type OTHER

Two Consultant neuroradiologists will independently review the images to establish the 'ground truth' findings on the CT scans which will be used as the reference standard. In the case of disagreement, a third senior neuroradiologist's opinion will be sought for arbitration.

Interventions

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Ground truthing

Two Consultant neuroradiologists will independently review the images to establish the 'ground truth' findings on the CT scans which will be used as the reference standard. In the case of disagreement, a third senior neuroradiologist's opinion will be sought for arbitration.

Intervention Type OTHER

Reading

All 30 readers will review all 150 cases, in each of two study phases. The readers will provide their opinion on the presence or absence of some acute abnormalities, including intracranial haemorrhage, infarct, midline shift and fracture. They will provide a confidence in their diagnosis (10-point visual analogue scale), and a single click point to mark the location of each abnormality that they consider as being present. The time taken for each scan will be automatically recorded.

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Radiologists/Radiographers/ED clinicians who review CT head scans as part of their clinical practice

Exclusion Criteria

* Neuroradiologists.
* Non-radiologist groups: Clinicians with previous formal postgraduate CT reporting training
* Emergency Medicine group: Clinicians with previous career in radiology/neurosurgery to registrar level
Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Alex Novak

Primary Investigator

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Alex Novak, MSc

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

National Health Services in the United Kingdom (NHS UK)

Sarim Ather, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

National Health Services in the United Kingdom (NHS UK)

Locations

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Guy's & St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust

London, London, United Kingdom

Site Status

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

Site Status

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

Glasgow, , United Kingdom

Site Status

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Newcastle upon Tyne, , United Kingdom

Site Status

Countries

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United Kingdom

References

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Related Links

Access external resources that provide additional context or updates about the study.

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/diagnostics-recovery-and-renewal-report-of-the-independent-review-of-diagnostic-services-for-nhs-england/

Richards M. Diagnostics: Recovery and Renewal - Report of the Independent Review of Diagnostic Services for NHS England. NHS England 2022.

https://www.rcr.ac.uk/publication/clinical-radiology-uk-workforce-census-2019-report

Royal College of Radiologists. Clinical radiology UK workforce census 2019 report. Royal College of Radiologists 2020.

https://www.nice.org.uk/advice/mib207

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Artificial intelligence for analysing CT brain scans. 2020.

Other Identifiers

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310995 - A

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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