UK Study: AI Improves Scan Report Clarity and Boosts Patient Understanding
Artificial intelligence could soon help patients make sense of complex medical scan results, making them far easier to understand without losing clinical accuracy, a major new study by the University of Sheffield suggests. AI is everywhere these days, including healthcare. If you’ve heard about it, you might picture robots roaming hospital halls or computers making life-or-death decisions.
Doctors write reports after X-rays, CT scans, and MRI scans. These reports are usually meant for other doctors, and they often use complex medical terms. This can make it hard for patients to read.
Now, a team from the University of Sheffield in the UK looked at many previous studies to see how well AI could simplify these reports. They found that when advanced AI tools like ChatGPT rewrote scan reports, patients found them almost twice as easy to understand.
Analysis showed that the reading level dropped from “university level” to one more closely aligned with the comprehension of a school pupil aged 11–13.
Why This Matters for Patients
Experts say that clearer reports could help patients in several ways, including reducing confusion and anxiety, improving access to information, and saving time for doctors. People often worry when they don’t understand medical words. Easier explanations could help calm fears. Patients with lower health literacy or those who speak English as a second language may benefit most. Doctors and nurses spend less time explaining complicated reports and more time focusing on care.
Dr. Samer Alabed, who led the study, said “the main issue is that traditional radiology reports weren’t written with patients in mind. The study suggests that AI could help change this”.
The researchers also checked how accurate the AI versions were. Most of them were correct. However, a very small number made mistakes. Because of this, doctors would still need to review AI-written reports before sharing them with patients.
The team also said that more testing is needed in real hospital settings, including within the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).
AI is not meant to replace doctors. Instead, it can act as a helper. By turning complex medical language into simple words, AI tools could improve communication between doctors and patients.
