Alongside Queen Mary University of London, Barts Health NHS Trust, and London’s Air Ambulance, The University of Aberdeen is looking at how AI can support clinical decision-making in emergency care.
Led by Queen Mary University of London, the team secured a £1.8million contract to support a clinical trial using the Artificial Intelligence in Trauma Risk Prediction System (AI-TRiPS).
AI-TRiPs is an innovative, AI-powered decision-support tool designed to assist in time-critical medical decision-making for severely injured patients.
The study will see AI-TRiPS deployed across The London Trauma System, the largest integrated trauma network in the world which serves over 10million people.
It will involve trauma specialists from London’s four major trauma centres as well as doctors and paramedics from London’s Air Ambulance and the London Ambulance Service.
Funded by the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, researchers will evaluate and determine the effectiveness of AI-TRiPs in supporting doctors assess the risks of life-threatening complications, such as severe blood loss, and support them in taking action to improve outcomes. If successful, this initiative could revolutionise trauma care worldwide and help save thousands of lives.
The AI algorithms, developed by trauma surgeons, military experts, and computer scientists, integrate cutting-edge trauma research, registry data, and clinical expertise.
The system is designed to be user-friendly, providing clear and accessible insights to doctors making decisions about seriously injured patients. It offers evidence-based predictions about the risks faced by critically injured patients and guidance on how best to manage these on arrival in hospital. Importantly, the system explains the reasoning behind its predictions, ensuring transparency with an “open box” design that can be easily understood and explored by clinical users.
“This is a pioneering step forward in trauma care,” said Colonel Nigel Tai, Honorary Professor of Trauma Surgery and Innovation at Queen Mary and lead investigator for the study.
"It is very exciting to be part of a great team who've worked so hard over the past decade to bring this research from concept through to implementation.
“We think that victims of major trauma - civilian and military - stand to benefit from new technologies, designed to give clinical teams the right information about their patients when needed most. However, this attractive notion - of improving care by equipping emergency departments with advanced, AI-powered decision support systems - is still an unproven assumption.
“Our research, funded by this contract, will put these tools to the test, by harnessing the world-leading London Trauma System and using a rigorous randomised trial protocol.
“The AI-powered tools we want to evaluate have been co-designed by trauma clinicians, working hand-in-glove with computer scientists. Whilst many AI applications have been developed, few are trialled, meaning that doctors and patients can't make good judgements about safety and efficacy, and developers lack feedback.”
The Clinical Trial Unit at the University of Aberdeen will design the randomised controlled trial and evaluate the impact of the decision support system. Marion Campbell, Professor of Health Services Research at the University of Aberdeen, said: “This project will provide crucial evidence on how innovative AI technology might enhance trauma care and we are delighted to be part of the team conducting this exciting research.”
The trial is part of a broader ambition to introduce AI-powered decision-support tools in diverse settings, from civilian emergency care to military operations. The algorithms have been designed with adaptability in mind, aiming for application in complex environments such as battlefield medicine.
The clinical trial will begin with a year of development and regulatory approvals in January 2025. Patient recruitment will follow in early 2026, with results expected in 2027.