Industrial Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research in Digital Diagnostics (iCAIRD)

National Outcome: We are healthy and active

The Industrial Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research in Digital Diagnostics (iCAIRD) is a pan-Scotland collaboration of 15 partners from across industry, NHS and academia. With funding from Innovate UK and key industrial partners, iCAIRD is building a world-class centre of excellence focusing on the application of AI to the field of digital diagnostics. iCAIRD enables research-active clinicians and innovative SMEs to collaborate on key clinical questions and ultimately solve health and social care challenges more quickly and efficiently.

iCAIRD is initially focused on building infrastructure to host an AI development environment for radiology and pathology, starting with research hubs in Glasgow and Aberdeen, as part of a national platform for federated learning. This covers skills development in data and security governance processes and data extraction from local and national NHS archives. It also creates platforms to facilitate AI training and experimentation and provides support for clinical evaluation and validation.

An important element of the infrastructure is the involvement of exemplar partners to help build AI capability in areas including radiology imaging (e.g. acute stroke, chest x-ray and mammogram) and digital pathology (e.g. gynaecological cancer screening). As the programme enters the sustainability phase, iCAIRD is examining ways of supporting new projects and model generalisation through its network of federated training sites. A key aspect of this work is patient and public engagement to address issues of trust and ethics which surround AI’s place in healthcare.