Experts say artificial intelligence can help Britain’s NHS overcome a “workforce crisis” in radiology, although building trust in the technology is an important step in it becoming a normal part of a modern health service.

This comes after a pilot study found that artificial intelligence was credited with classifying plain chest x-rays with an accuracy of 99.7%, showing the potential to speed up cancer diagnosis.

Technology company Cure AI has developed its platforms to interpret X-rays, CT scans and ultrasounds to save doctors time.

“We can’t recruit and integrate radiologists and doctors at the same level as we would like to meet demand,” Darren Stephens, UK and EU head of trade, told British news agency BA Media.

The Frimley Foundation of the British National Health Service is experimenting with the “KXR” platform of the “Cure AI” company, to confirm the usefulness of artificial intelligence in differentiating between normal and abnormal chest rays.

The institution used 576 chest x-rays, while Cure’s artificial intelligence platform was able to identify normal x-rays with an accuracy of 99.7%.