GCR Deputy Chair of the Board Birgit Fleurent shares AI insights with Accuray
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The Global Coalition for Radiotherapy (GCR) Deputy Chair of the Board, Birgit Fleurent spoke with our industry partner Accuray at their "Artificial Intelligence in Radiation Oncology" event in January.
Birgit presented the perspective of the GCR in sharing the value and impact AI can have on radiotherapy practices today and in the future. She shared GCR’s strategic priorities and the important role that AI plays for successful implementation in each area.
“Successful collaborations are an area where the GCR really stands out. In our global community of experts, working together on various important programs will have an ongoing positive impact- including in the advocacy for and adoption of AI as a tool to provide universal and equitable access to radiotherapy for all who need it.” -Birgit Fleurent
Opportunities
She provided insights on where AI has the most impact.
“AI is already having a global impact in workflow, automation, improving throughput, safety, and standardization. For automated QA [Quality Assurance], AI can identify outliers and any practice deviations which is particularly valuable for high volume and understaffed centers.”
By creating productivity through these methods, AI can help close the radiotherapy access gaps, especially in low and middle income countries.
AI can play a strong role in education programs once the content is established. Integrating AI training into clinical education should be a best practice.
Challenges
Commenting on the barriers facing AI adoption in radiotherapy, Birgit said based on the experience of the GCR global network, barriers can be categorized into four major areas: Technical, Clinical, Regulatory & Legal, and Equity. She expanded on each of these areas in the interview.
Ensuring that AI models are equitable and applicable across diverse populations is another key challenge with AI. She explained how tailoring programs to the local needs is a key part of the GCR Radiotherapy Essential Standards, and how AI supporting tools should have local validation before deployment, as well as ongoing monitoring and transparent reporting to ensure equity.
Further, she elaborated on funding models, and demonstrating the benefits of AI innovations to healthcare systems.
Birgit emphasized that targeted funding is needed to realize the value AI can have as a tool to improve radiotherapy access and its integration into clinical workflows.
As this technology continues to advance worldwide, we are mindful of the potential that AI has to support greater access to radiotherapy. We are grateful to our partner Accuray for highlighting this important topic, and to Birgit Fleurent for sharing her expert perspectives with them.
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