Current practical experience with artificial intelligence in clinical radiology: a survey of the European Society of Radiology

Abstract

A survey among the members of European Society of Radiology (ESR) was conducted regarding the current practical clinical experience of radiologists with Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered tools. 690 radiologists completed the survey. Among these were 276 radiologists from 229 institutions in 32 countries who had practical clinical experience with an AI-based algorithm and formed the basis of this study. The respondents with clinical AI experience included 143 radiologists (52%) from academic institutions, 102 radiologists (37%) from regional hospitals, and 31 radiologists (11%) from private practice. The use case scenarios of the AI algorithm were mainly related to diagnostic interpretation, image post-processing, and prioritisation of workflow. Technical difficulties with integration of AI-based tools into the workflow were experienced by only 49 respondents (17.8%). Of 185 radiologists who used AI-based algorithms for diagnostic purposes, 140 (75.7%) considered the results of the algorithms generally reliable. The use of a diagnostic algorithm was mentioned in the report by 64 respondents (34.6%) and disclosed to patients by 32 (17.3%). Only 42 (22.7%) experienced a significant reduction of their workload, whereas 129 (69.8%) found that there was no such effect. Of 111 respondents who used AI-based algorithms for clinical workflow prioritisation, 26 (23.4%) considered algorithms to be very helpful for reducing the workload of the medical staff whereas the others found them only moderately helpful (62.2%) or not helpful at all (14.4%). Only 92 (13.3%) of the total 690 respondents indicated that they had intentions to acquire AI tools. In summary, although the assistance of AI algorithms was found to be reliable for different use case scenarios, the majority of radiologists experienced no reduction of practical clinical workload.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence and workload; Artificial intelligence in imaging; Artificial intelligence in radiology; Professional issues.

Fig. 1

Which type of scenario (use case) was addressed by the used AI algorithm(s) in clinical routine? The answers of all 276 respondents with practical clinical AI experience are shown, including the number of respondents using one or more algorithms for assistance in diagnostic interpretation (green) and/ or workflow prioritisation (blue)

Fig. 2

Reasons given by 363 of all 690 participants of the survey (regardless of their experience with AI-based algorithms in clinical workflow) for not intending to acquire a certified AI-based algorithm for their clinical practice