Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39492288›Full record

ArticleBritish journal of anaesthesia2023

Variability between human experts and artificial intelligence in identification of anatomical structures by ultrasound in regional anaesthesia: a framework for evaluation of assistive artificial intelligence.

James S Bowness, Robert Morse, Owen Lewis, James Lloyd, David Burckett-St Laurent, Boyne Bellew, Alan J R Macfarlane, Amit Pawa, Alasdair Taylor, J Alison Noble and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in British journal of anaesthesia, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

James S BownessNuffield Department of Clinical Anaesthesia, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Department of Anaesthesia, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, Newport, UK. Electronic address: james.bowness@jesus.ox.ac.uk.
Robert MorseIntelligent Ultrasound, Cardiff, UK.
Owen LewisDepartment of Anaesthesia, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, Newport, UK.
James LloydDepartment of Anaesthesia, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, Newport, UK.
David Burckett-St LaurentDepartment of Anaesthesia, Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, Truro, UK.
Boyne BellewDepartment of Surgery & Cancer, Imperial College London, London, UK; Department of Anaesthesia, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK.
Alan J R MacfarlaneDepartment of Anaesthesia, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, Glasgow, UK; School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Amit PawaDepartment of Anaesthesia, Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK; Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, London, UK.
Alasdair TaylorDepartment of Anaesthesia, NHS Tayside, Dundee, UK.
J Alison NobleInstitute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Helen HighamNuffield Department of Clinical Anaesthesia, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Department of Anaesthesia, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundScanNav

methodsNineteen experts in ultrasound-guided regional anaesthesia (UGRA) annotated 100 structures in 30 ultrasound videos across six anatomical regions. These annotations were compared with each other to produce a quantitative assessment of the level of agreement amongst human experts. The AI colour overlay was then compared with all expert annotations. Differences in human-human and human-AI agreement are presented for each structure class (artery, muscle, nerve, fascia/serosal plane) and structure. Clinical context is provided through subjective assessment data from UGRA experts.

resultsFor human-human and human-AI annotations, agreement was highest for arteries (mean Dice score 0.88/0.86), then muscles (0.80/0.77), and lowest for nerves (0.48/0.41). Wide discrepancy exists in consistency for different structures, both with human-human and human-AI comparisons; highest for sartorius muscle (0.91/0.92) and lowest for the radial nerve (0.21/0.27).

conclusionsHuman experts and the AI system both showed the same pattern of agreement in sono-anatomical structure identification. The clinical significance of the differences presented must be explored; however the perception that human expert opinion is uniform must be challenged. Elements of this assessment framework could be used for other devices to allow consistent evaluations that inform clinical training and practice. Anaesthetists should be actively engaged in the development and adoption of new AI technology.

Indexed as

artificial intelligencemachine learningmedical devicesregional anaesthesiasono-anatomyultrasonographyvalidation

Identifiers

PMID39492288
PMCPMC11103080

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.