South West trailblazing adoption of AI for faster prostate cancer diagnosis
The South West health and care system is leading the way in the adoption of an artificially intelligent software in the NHS that can speed up the diagnosis of prostate cancer, with support from Health Innovation South West.
The journey of adoption demonstrates the behind-the-scenes value of health innovation networks in spreading health innovation at pace and scale, as the government launches its new National Cancer Plan.
Prostate Intelligence, or ‘Pi™’, is an artificially intelligent (AI) solution developed by Cambridge-based firm Lucida Medical. Pi™ can speed up prostate cancer diagnosis by interpreting prostate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), automatically booking patients at high risk for the next available biopsy, enabling radiologists to prioritise these patients, and providing an automated ‘second read’ for clearer negative cases – a task previously done manually by a radiologist.
At Health Innovation South West we have been supporting Lucida Medical since early 2024, when we came together to develop a plan to spread and scale Pi™. Its spread journey began when Somerset NHS Foundation Trust adopted Pi™ within routine clinical practice and Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust quickly followed suit.
As early adopters of Pi™, and as a test bed for innovation in rural and coastal settings, the South West Peninsula was ideally placed to host the first real-world evaluation of Pi™.
An opportunity to evaluate came by way of our Cancer Innovation Challenge, an open call to cancer innovators to receive tailored innovation support and a fully-funded real-world evaluation, to help them to understand the conditions for success in scaling and spreading their innovation.
Lucida Medical was one of three recipients, and we worked with them and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust to evaluate the implementation and impact of Pi™ as an AI solution for faster, more accurate interpretation of prostate cancer MRI at Somerset’s Musgrove Park Hospital.
Our work together has shown strong accuracy of Pi in supporting clinicians to prioritise cases for reporting and biopsy, and that it can shorten wait times for biopsy among those at greatest risk. Pi™ is also supporting radiologists by saving time with automated analyses and validating interpretations (providing a ‘second read’), and urologists by providing heat maps for use during biopsy.
Alongside the evaluation, we lent Lucida Medical a hand with their bids for funding. With our support, Lucida Medical has applied and secured a place on the NHS Innovation Accelerator 2025, has been rewarded innovation funding from the Somerset, Wiltshire, Avon and Gloucestershire (SWAG) Cancer Alliance to fund a site on their patch, and has submitted a successful bid to the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), with the money granted set to fund the implementation of Pi™ at a further 12-15 sites.
This large-scale roll-out of Pi™ across 12-15 NHS sites, which started this year, is taking forward the learning that Lucida Medical has gathered through our partnership; not only the clinical and economic benefits of Pi™ for prostate cancer diagnosis in the real-world, but the potentially less positive impacts that Pi™ may have on nurse time and the challenges associated with its implementation, such as ongoing data infrastructure limitations within the NHS.
Alongside learning and insights, we have lent Lucida Medical social value advice and guidance, including health equity assessments and developing skills in net zero planning to help with environmental sustainability.
For the team at Lucida Medical, our work together has been transformative. “The support from the Cancer Innovation Challenge has been critical in generating the evidence to show how the Pi™ solution can best support the delivery of their prostate cancer pathway”, says Lucy Davies, Vice President of Clinical at Lucida Medical. “This work has supported the business case for scale and spread of Pi™ across the NHS and has already led to engagement with other NHS Trusts who are very keen to see the results.”
With prostate cancer the second most common cause of cancer-related death in males in the UK, detecting and diagnosing it early with the help of software like Pi™ can improve affected men’s chances of survival. In Devon we are brokering local connections between Lucida Medical and our health and care partners to explore opportunities for spread.
Meanwhile, further afield, our work in partnership at a local level is beginning to spread to the international stage; findings from our evaluation in Somerset were presented at the recent 31st European Symposium on Urogenital Radiology in Stockholm, sparking global awareness.
With more NHS sites welcoming Pi™, the journey and development of this AI solution to speed up cancer diagnostics across the country is only just beginning. Yet what is clear in these early days is that innovative thinking, partnership building, and investment over time, with the support of health innovation networks, can lead to the spread of innovation in health and care, at pace and scale.
Learn more about our work with Lucida Medical and Pi™.
Image: Lucida Medical Ltd
