Farrer Park Hospital, a private tertiary care provider in Singapore, has started offering its latest AI-assisted colorectal screening service to improve its detection, classification, screening and monitoring of colorectal polyps and cancer.

The hospital is using an AI screening tool which automatically alerts doctors in real-time to suspected lesions and polyps. 

The service was tried out between March and April when over 360 colonoscopies were done. It was officially introduced as a new hospital offering in May.

WHY IT MATTERS

Colorectal cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in Singapore, affecting around 1,800 people each year. FPH introduced its latest AI screening service to enable "more accurate detection of polyps," according to a press release.

Dr Desmond Wai, a consultant gastroenterologist at FPH, said the technology helps reduce false negative results and avoids the risk of missing polyps by clearly highlighting them. "This improves the accuracy of the scopes conducted which are essential in a patient's health journey," he said.

The use of AI is particularly useful for identifying flat and sessile polyps, which are often missed, noted Dr Chew Min Hoe, a senior consultant and colorectal surgeon at FPH.

THE LARGER TREND

In recent years, FPH has been turning to AI to improve its health services. In September last year, it reported employing an AI-enabled MRI screening tool for dementia to enhance dementia diagnosis.

In November, the company partnered with Medtronic to launch its AI-assisted early screening service for cardiac diseases. The programme uses a digital auscultation device with ECG and AI from Medtronic which identifies missing sounds in patients' hearts that would otherwise go unnoticed.