AI in Radiology: C. Rainey et al. (2023) Restricted Dataset

Artificial intelligence decision support systems have been proposed to assist a struggling National Health Service (NHS) workforce in the United Kingdom. Its implementation in UK healthcare systems has been identified as a priority for deployment. Few studies have investigated the impact of the feedback from such systems on the end user. This study investigated the impact of two forms of AI feedback (saliency/heatmaps and AI diagnosis with percentage confidence) on student and qualified diagnostic radiographers’ accuracy when determining binary diagnosis on skeletal radiographs. The AI feedback proved beneficial to accuracy in all cases except when the AI was incorrect and for pathological cases in the student group. The self-reported trust of all participants decreased from the beginning to the end of the study. The findings of this study should guide developers in the provision of the most advantageous forms of AI feedback and direct educators in tailoring education to highlight weaknesses in human interaction with AI-based clinical decision support systems. All data analysis was conducted on SPSS® v 27 [27] and Microsoft® Excel® [28]. This dataset is restricted because of the personal nature of the responses. Access to the data may be applied for following instructions provided here. This work has been funded by the College of Radiographers Research Industry Partnership Research awards scheme (CoRIPS) no. 183

Research Pulse. Volume 2, No. 2, June 2007

Neuroscience: Researching the nervous system in health and disease. Messages from the Dean. Paul Arbon. Major new research funds. Paul Bennett. Synchrotron science in 21st century medicine and medical research. Queen's Birthday Honours. PRISM news spectrum. Driving the research dollar further. Water research in the Department of Environmental Health. Veterans' health. New Hepatitis B vaccine trial. Award winning postgraduate research at Flinders. Have your say

EFFECT OF SLC22A1 GENE POLYMORPHISMS ON METFORMINRESPONSE IN LEBANESE TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS PATIENTS

Metformin is one of the most widely prescribed oral ant diabetic drugs, it is generally used for treating type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. The organic caution transporter 1(OCT1), encoded by the SLC22A1 gene is responsible for the uptake of metformin in the hepatocytes. Polymorphisms in SLC22A1 gene contribute to variable responses to metformin leading to inter-individual variations in its clinical efficacy. We evaluated the impact of SLC22A1 rs622342 gene polymorphisms on the efficacy of metformin in Lebanese type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. A total of 63 patients who were on metformin monotherapy were followed up for 6 months. Single nucleotide polymorphisms were determined using Simple Probe® real-time PCR assay. The percentage reduction of fasting plasma glucose after 3 months were 31 % in patients having AA genotype slightly higher than in patients having AC genotype 30.3 % (P=0.676) but much higher than in patients carrying two copies of ‘‘C’’ allele 19.7% (P \u3c 0.001).The percentage reduction of HbA1c after 3 months were 11.16 % in patients having AA genotype higher than in patients having AC genotype 8.58 % (P=0.04) and much higher than in patients carrying two copies of ‘‘C’’ allele 5.65% (P=0.011).Similar results are shown after 6 months. Although preliminary, these data suggest that metformin response in individuals with diabetes mellitus patients may vary according to rs622342 in SLC22A1

The Watching Pregnancy Project: an exploration of low back pain occurrence, symptoms and healthcare use in pregnant women

Introduction Many women experience low back pain (LBP) during pregnancy, which often persists after birth. Those affected have reported frustration that their symptoms are not taken seriously, along with limited availability of treatments to meet their needs. To our knowledge, no UK-based studies have prospectively investigated the extent of LBP as a problem for women both during pregnancy and after birth. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the extent and current management of this problem in a UK healthcare setting over four pre-defined study time points; two during pregnancy and two after birth. Materials and Methods A prospective observational cohort study followed a sample of pregnant women living in the UK, from 20 to 22-weeks’ gestation until six months after birth. All women attending their routine anomaly scan were informed of the study. Those with red flags, inflammatory / neurological disease, urinary tract infection (UTI) or otherwise deemed ineligible by their treating midwife, were excluded. A bespoke online questionnaire was distributed to consenting women to remotely collect demographic data and self-reported LBP history, symptom presentation, healthcare use and outcomes at four pre-defined study time-points, (i) 20 to 22-weeks’ and (ii) 31 to 34-weeks’ gestation, (iii) six weeks and (iv) six months after birth. At the end of the study women provided feedback about their experiences and an evaluation of the methods of recruitment and online data collection was carried out to inform a future, fully powered study. Results 307 women, from middle and upper socioeconomic groups, consented to participate and completed the first questionnaire. Women found the study procedures easy to follow with 50% completing the final questionnaire and 121 completing all four questionnaires. In the first questionnaire, 43% of women (N=132) reported having a history of LBP, with 46% of these currently experiencing LBP. Average composite pain scores ranged from 6.4 to 7.1/10 over the course of the study and were highest during the third trimester. Between 20 and 34 weeks´ gestation women reported a clinically important deterioration in health-related quality of life and back-specific function, along with high fear-avoidance beliefs between 31 to 34 weeks’ gestation. Women with a history of LBP were more likely to report symptoms 6-weeks after birth. Over 50% did not receive any treatment for their LBP. A significant proportion opted to self-medicate with painkillers, and many of those receiving physiotherapy for their LBP chose to self-refer. Conclusions Pregnant women, predominantly from affluent socioeconomic groups, were interested in taking part in this study and found the procedures easy to follow. A significant proportion had a history of LBP. The deterioration observed in function and health-related quality of life, along with high fear-avoidance beliefs about physical activity when pain symptoms were at their worst, could be contributing to the increasing socioeconomic burden of LBP. In addition, women’s use of over-the-counter painkillers for their LBP is concerning, given the considerable uncertainty about the effects of these on the unborn child. These findings would suggest that more research should be directed at ways of preventing LBP from becoming a problem for pregnant women, in particular reducing the risk factors for chronicity that may be perpetuating this often ‘trivialised’ problem