Departmental news

AI can analyse X-rays and diagnose medical issues just as, or more, accurately than doctors, a new study led by the University of Warwick has found.

The AI, which has been trained on 2.8 million historic chest X-rays from over 1.5 million patients, scans X-Rays for 37 possible conditions.

It was just as accurate or more accurate than the doctor’s analysis at the time the X-ray was taken for 35 out of 37 conditions (94%).

The AI software can scan X-rays as soon as they are taken for possible conditions and flags any abnormalities. It will then give a percentage chance of each of the abnormalities being present. The AI also understands the seriousness of the different conditions and will flag the more urgent ones to doctors accordingly.

To verify the accuracy of the AI, a sample of over 1,400 X-Rays it had analysed were cross examined by a group of senior radiologists, who compared the diagnoses made by the AI with the historical diagnoses by radiologists at the time.

The AI is a collaboration between Warwick, King’s College London and several NHS sites funded by a Wellcome Trust Innovator Award. The programme also uses a large language model to understand the historical reports written by clinicians – the same underlying technology used by other AI programmes, such as ChatGPT.

Giovanni Montana, Professor of Data Science at WMG at the University of Warwick, and lead author, suggested that the AI tool could either be used as a screening tool for radiologists, or to offer “the ultimate second opinion”, avoiding human bias.

Professor Montana commented: “This programme has been trained on millions of X-rays and is highly accurate. It eliminates the elements of human error, which is unavoidable, and bias. If a patient is referred for an X-ray with a heart problem, doctors will inevitably focus on the heart over the lungs.

“This is totally understandable but runs the risk of undetected problems in other areas. This AI eliminates that human bias – it’s the ultimate second opinion”.

Co-author Professor Vicky Goh of King’s College London, and immediate past Chair of the Academic Committee at the Royal Society of Radiologists commented: “Current AI programmes available to us in the NHS only have a limited scope. Comprehensive AI programmes like this will be the future of medicine, with AI acting as a co-pilot for busy doctors.

“With the acute shortage of radiologists in the UK, programmes like this will facilitate interpretation and reduce delays for diagnosis and treatment”.

There is also the possibility that the AI could look at the X-Rays where no abnormalities are found, which is around half of all of them, and flag this to doctors in a way which could improve efficiency for the NHS. By allowing AI to weed out X-Rays with no abnormalities found, radiologists will have more time to focus on challenging and more critical tests.

A recent poll by the Royal College of Radiologists found that shortages of radiologists were leading to longer wait times, and delays in treatment, at 97% of the UK’s cancer treatment centres.

This AI software – entitled X-Raydar – is designed to help reduce the workload for doctors and cut delays. Remarkably, the research group has open sourced the entire software for non-commercial uses to speed up the pace of research development in this domain.

The software can be seen in use in a video here.

The University of Warwick is collaborating with Ca' Foscari University of Venice to analyse Roman artefacts in a history project which could change the face of museums for the 21st century.

Warwick is working with historians at Ca’ Foscari to scan and analyse artefacts from ancient Roman and pre-Roman Venice, including in 3D and VR forms.

Researchers hope that these artefacts, scanned into 3D and virtual reality (VR), could revolutionise how people experience historical items, including in museums.

Rather than studying items in glass cases, artefacts could instead be scanned and produced using 3D printing or VR technology so visitors can hold and experience history in a whole new way.

This is especially vital when the items themselves are fragile or extremely old, meaning the originals can’t be held or examined by the public.

The collaboration between Warwick and Ca’ Foscari is focused on over 30 items related to religion from the Roman settlement of Altinum – the ancestor of the city of Venice.

Altinum is larger than Pompeii but remains mostly unexcavated, with researchers suggesting a trove of artefacts may be there waiting to be discovered.

The items themselves are from the Roman period and before, including from the Venetii natives who were assimilated into the Roman Empire over centuries.

The artefacts are being analysed by historians at Ca’ Foscari, with engineers at Warwick using cutting edge imaging technology to scan the items in incredibly high definition.

This helps historians read writing from the period and is especially vital when some artefacts have been damaged or are fragmented.

Academics at Warwick and Ca’ Foscari presented their findings at a conference in Venice on Friday (24th November), highlighting the potential of the combined arts knowledge of Ca ‘Foscari and the technology of WMG.

Professor Mark Williams, Head of the Centre for Imaging, Metrology and Additive Technology (CiMAT) at WMG commented: “This is an excellent example of universities working together, including across the arts and sciences. This scanning technology has truly exciting possibilities, including for the future of historical learning and we were delighted to be able to assist our Venetian colleagues in bringing a small section of their history to life”.

Associate Professor Lorenzo Calvelli, a historian at Ca’ Foscari University, said: “These artefacts represent the very beginnings of Venice from over two millennia ago, and we are very pleased to be able to bring this history to a wider audience, both here in Italy and in the UK.

“It has been excellent to meet and collaborate with colleagues from Warwick, and I am very excited about our future plans to dive deeper into the treasure trove of artefacts that is waiting for us in Altinum”.

Altinum developed over the course of the Roman Empire into a booming trading hub, particularly know for valuable amber and horses which were prized across Europe. Eventually, refugees from Altinum are believed to have contributed to the founding of Venice in the wake of the fall of the Roman Empire.

Professor Rachel Moseley, Chair of the Faculty of Arts at Warwick, commented: “This is an excellent example of science and the arts working together to create exciting new possibilities.

“Every day, we see scientific advances allowing us to delve deeper into history in a way which recently we would have thought was impossible. Equally, the arts give science that grounding and philosophy to make these advances tangible to the public.

“I’m delighted that our new base of Warwick Venice Centre has brought all these excellent researchers together and is already encouraging collaboration in a hugely positive way.”

The University of Warwick has been awarded millions of pounds to boost British production of crucial materials for electric car batteries.

The £12 million in funding has been awarded by the Faraday Battery Challenge to the High Value Manufacturing Catapult at WMG at the University of Warwick, and CPI at NETPark (North East Technology Park), in County Durham.

It will be used to create the new Advanced Materials Battery Industrialisation Centre (AMBIC).

The Centre will bridge the gap between academic research and battery production and will focus on how batteries can be made to work more efficiently, as well as on equipment and skills development.

The Centre is needed to help the UK develop the electric vehicle batteries of the future, with reduced costs, more sustainable materials and improved performance.

Electric vehicle batteries make up around half the cost of a new electric vehicle, so reducing the cost of their production is crucial to lowering the cost of EVs to parity with combustion engine vehicles.

The funds are part of a wider investment strategy by the Faraday Battery Challenge and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult to ramp up Britain’s battery production and infrastructure to boost the UK’s domestic battery supply chain.

Professor David Greenwood, CEO of the WMG High Value Manufacturing Catapult Centre said: “Cathode and anode active materials make up more than 50% of the value of an automotive battery cell.

“For the UK to take its great academic research into production, and to capture the billions of pounds of resulting economic value in the UK, we need facilities which allow Britain to scale up and fully evaluate new materials. This investment, alongside the combined skillsets of CPI and WMG will provide that capability for the UK.”

The funds are specifically to help turbocharge the scale up of battery materials manufacturing within the UK. Only by producing batteries on a wider scale domestically can the EV industry make sure there is no bottleneck in supply and demand. By strengthening UK supply chains of battery materials, WMG is working with UKBIC and others to create a more resilient supply chain.

Thomas Bartlett, Challenge Deputy Director for the Faraday Battery Challenge, said: “AMBIC will bring together two emerging regions of battery innovation and manufacturing; the North-East and Midlands, under one facility to de-risk and accelerate battery materials scale up in the UK.

“Through the Faraday Battery Challenge’s £12m investment in the High Value Manufacturing Catapult we will establish a truly world-class facility to support the growth of a battery materials supply chain. With AMBIC and previous investments in cell, module and pack scale-up at UKBIC and R&D in the wider ecosystem, the UK will now be in a position to support businesses from “powder to pack” and from lab to commercial scales.”

Katherine Bennett, CEO of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, said: “The next generation of battery technologies are critical to the green energy transition and a major opportunity for UK manufacturing. Realising that potential will require combining our collective expertise and this investment from the Faraday Battery Challenge is a brilliant example of that in action.

“In CPI and WMG, the Advanced Materials Battery Industrialisation Centre has two centres that are at the very forefront of chemical processing and battery cell development; together they can turbo charge battery materials scale-up.”

Frank Millar, Chief Executive Officer at CPI, said: “The Advanced Materials Batteries Industrialisation Centre will enhance the UK’s existing competitive advantages in batteries technology, and it stands to become a catalyst for the UK to address some of the biggest challenges we face as a nation. By giving innovators the opportunity to harness our expertise we can tackle issues such as climate change, while growing a sector that will be vital to the future of the economy.”

Professor of Visualisation, Alan Chalmers, an expert in flavour simulation at WMG at the University of Warwick, discusses the most famous creations of Willy Wonka ahead of the film premiere this December.

“While we may not have discovered the source of snozzberries, our research invites everyone to wonder about the extraordinary possibilities within the science of flavours” – Professor Chalmers.

Professor Chalmers is the creator of an exciting new flavour experience in a virtual way, with the opportunity to taste almost anything in a sip. The process takes samples of food for analysis, to accurately simulate a real flavour by extracting its tastes, aromas, and mouthfeel. His research has placed him as Warwick’s Willy Wonka.

“We can take a person on a journey through the vast flavour space from the start flavour to a variant that they enjoy”.

Three-course meal bubble-gum:
“Flavour is just the sensation of the taste, aroma and mouthfeel of food or drink in your mouth. If you take the real food or drink and analyse them to extract these components – then they can simply be authentically simulated with UK Food Standards Agency food-safe chemicals.

“So, you take a fork full of roast turkey, gravy, Brussel sprouts and a bit of roast potato … and analyse it with specialist devices to extract exactly what the taste, aroma and mouthfeel components are for this food ensemble. Once you have this “recipe” you simply recreate this exact flavour with the food-safe chemicals – with a specific food-safe chemical for each component, for example, sucrose is used to simulate the sweetness component.

The correct combinations of these chemicals can then be embedded in chewing gum … and voila – as you bite down on the chewing gum – you will experience the same flavour – as if you just had eaten the real roast turkey, gravy, Brussel sprouts and roast potato.”

Lick-able Wallpaper:
“This would be quite straightforward to do. You simply need to embed the food-safe chemicals for each of the components of the desired flavour into the wallpaper – and as it is licked – so the flavour will be perceived.”

The Everlasting-gobstopper:
“I could imagine a ball of eg hard plastic which is impregnated with a sweet flavour. The sweet won’t get smaller - but at some point the sweet flavour will have to be replenished. This will depend how often the gobstopper is sucked and how hard! I could imagine the centre of the plastic ball contains the liquid and this is drawn out as the person sucks. The liquid could be replaced when required.

“Not sure it is a sweet I would want – I think I will stick to chocolate!”

ENDS

Notes to editors
For further information please contact
Bron Mills
bron.mills@warwick.ac.uk
07824540720

The technology was not originally created with inspiration from the infamous chocolatier. The theory behind the invention is that changes in a person's taste and smell senses could be an early indication of Alzheimer’s before signs of memory loss arise. The easy-to-use low-cost dispenser could be used by a nurse as part of an annual health check, in pharmacies, care homes, community centres and even in the home. Researchers hope to achieve UK-wide screening services where members of the public can take a simple smell and taste test. Those who perform poorly can then be referred for further tests which could result in an Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

Professor Chalmers said: “At the moment, people who present with symptoms of memory loss are referred for MRI scans and spinal fluid tests to confirm a diagnosis. By the time memory loss occurs, things are often too late; pioneering drug treatments only perform well in the early stages of degeneration.

Researchers at WMG, University of Warwick’s, International Institute for Nanocomposites Manufacturing (IINM) have been working with the team at Versarien plc on a new comprehensive portfolio of graphene and related nanomaterial based thermoplastic polymer compounds and masterbatches.

The new PolygreneTM compounds are expected to have potential commercial applications in areas as diverse as sports equipment, construction products, aerospace and automotive components.

Since 2018, Versarien subsidiary 2-DTech Ltd (2DT), Composites UK member, has funded PhD and postdoctoral researchers to understand the use of its Nanene™ graphene powders and other nanomaterials in thermoplastic systems. Dr David Reinoso-Arenas, the first 2DT funded PhD student, with support from the EPSRC Doctoral Training Programme, worked with Versarien’s Nanene™ materials in thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) systems and joined Versarien full-time last year as part of the team at Versarien’s subsidiary Cambridge Graphene Ltd.

Dr David Reinoso-Arenas, explained: “The new PolygreneTM thermoplastics portfolio is a culmination of my PhD research, some of which is due to be published in peer-reviewed journals. Since then we’ve been able to further develop and test these materials using different nanomaterial fillers and process conditions to fully optimise the resulting product performance. My PhD experience at the IINM and WMG was really enjoyable and enabled me to work closely with industry to ensure that the outputs of my research could be validated and have commercial viability.”

David’s PhD was performed under the supervision of Professor Tony McNally, whose team has an established capability in incorporating a wide range of nanomaterials into bulk polymer systems.

Professor Tony McNally, who leads the Nanocomposites Research Group at WMG, University of Warwick, said: “Working with Versarien over the last few years has given the IINM and WMG access to alternative graphene materials that have shown interesting phenomena when blended in these TPE systems. By tuning the nanofiller loading and optimising process conditions, David’s research showed that exceptional gains can be achieved in mechanical properties across the board (tensile strength, modulus, elongation at break, toughness and abrasion resistance) without compromising any properties. The addition of graphene also highlights improvements in polymer processing which may offer lower energy usage and, therefore, improving sustainability.”

Professor McNally continues to work with Versarien by providing a funded PhD position in 2D material based rubber systems, making use of the IINM’s new state of the art rubber processing and testing capabilities With support from the High Value Manufacturing Catapult (HVMC), WMG has established a world class facility for the study of elastomers.

Dr Stephen Hodge, Versarien’s CEO, added: “We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the IINM and WMG in rubber processing and understanding the interactions of our graphene and other 2D materials in these more complex systems, and hope to be able to demonstrate significant benefits that can impact upon real-world applications.”

Find out more and download technical datasheets here: https://versarienproducts.co.uk/thermoplastics

Find out more about WMG’s Nanocomposites research here:https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/research/materials/nanocomposites/

Shravani Sharma, Researcher at WMG at the University of Warwick, comments on the news that the Government is to cancel rail industry plans to close the vast majority of railway station ticket offices in England.

Shravani Sharma, whose recent work focused on the impact of travel on those with disabilities, said: “It’s a relief to hear of the U-turn of the ticket office closures. Through working with a range of disability charities, it’s clear that the removal of ticket offices would have a profound impact on the disabled. Working with CASBA (Citizen Advocacy South Birmingham Area), which supports people with learning difficulties, Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and Cerebral Palsy Midlands has shed light on the problems removing the ticket offices would have on the disabled.

“People with different visible and non-visible disabilities – including blindness, mobility problems, hearing loss, cerebral palsy and ADHD amongst others – would be severely impacted by the loss of ticket offices. People could be challenged by the technology, unable to distinguish train tickets from receipts, or simply need the guidance or assistance of a ticket officer.

“The U-turn will be a relief for so many people across the UK. When planning policies for the transport industry, people from a wide range of backgrounds, with different needs, must be properly listened to before making any big decisions. I would urge the government to consult both disability charities and the disabled in future policymaking.”

Professor Siddartha Khastgir, Head of Verification and Validation at WMG, University of Warwick, comments on Cruise pausing all driverless robotaxi operations in the US to rebuild public trust.

“Safety is the number one priority when commercialising self-driving vehicles, we should never compromise safety even though this is a fast-paced technology. The industry and autonomous vehicle developers and operators need to have a thorough review of the current incidents and be more open and transparent regarding their safety assurance processes and systems.

“Safety messages and information should be communicated to the public to gradually build up societal trust and ensure that technology users and road users are well-informed about this new technology’s capabilities and limitations.

“As a world-leading research institution, WMG is working closely with international and national policymakers, regulators, and industry to improve the safety of self-driving vehicles. We encourage the ecosystem to collaborate further to gain the public’s confidence in this emerging transport technology.”

Find out more about WMG’s Verification and Validation research here: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/research/cav/vandv/

WMG, at the University of Warwick, is part a unique £2 million consortium, entitled Sim4CAMSens.

The Sim4CAMSens project, led by Claytex, is made up of a consortium of prominent industry partners, including AESIN, rFpro, Syselek, Oxford RF, National Physical Laboratory, Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult and WMG.

Together the consortium will create a framework for sensor evaluation that incorporates modelling, simulation, and actual testing. In order to enable Automated Driving Systems (ADS) and sensor developers to speed their development, this project will involve the development of new models for sensors, noise and materials, and new test methodologies.

The role of WMG will be to understand which noise factors have the higher impact on the different perception sensors (i.e., camera, LiDAR, RADAR,) and how to correlate virtual testing to real-life testing to support the entire supply chain.

Professor Valentina Donzella, who leads the Intelligent Vehicles Sensors research at WMG explains: “The Sim4CAMSens project is an extremely exciting opportunity for WMG, to work with UK based world leading industrial and research partners, to speed up the development of sensors models and testing methodologies. These are key considerations for the future safe deployment of robust and reliable ADS. The success of this project will ensure the UK leads the way globally in this field."

Find out more about WMG’s Intelligent Vehicles Sensors research here: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/research/cav/ivsensors

WMG at The University of Warwick, Solihull Council, National Highways, Transport for West Midlands, ZF, Aurrigo, Syselek and Liftango have successfully secured £300,000 to deliver a project looking into the feasibility of a self-driving shuttle service in the West Midlands.

The project will explore how a new automated transport link between Blythe Valley Business Park, near Shirley, and the new HS2 rail station in Solihull could operate in the future. The feasibility study will consider all aspects of the technology required in order to provide a safe and reliable automated public transport service between these important commercial centres. The proposed route would use the existing road network travelling along the M42 from Junction 4 and utilise the new Junction 5a currently under construction.

As a world-class research institution with leading capabilities in the verification and validation of safety assurance of self-driving technologies, WMG will apply its Operational Design Domain (ODD) based Safety Assurance research methodologies to the specific project challenges.  

This project is part of the wider Midlands Future Mobility (MFM) initiative, led by WMG. The MFM vision is to achieve zero road incidents, net-zero emissions and inclusive transport in the West Midlands. MFM enables stakeholders from across mobility to address the interlinked challenges of technology, policy, and behaviour to realise the vision.

Cllr Ken Hawkins, Solihull Council Cabinet Member for Environment & Infrastructure, said: “Connected Automated Vehicle (CAV) technology has the potential revolutionise the way we get around our towns, cities and rural areas. Working with our partners we are excited to be undertaking this latest project.

“We’ve already carried out a series of successful pathfinder trials here in Solihull, using our own automated shuttle, and have led the way in showing how it is possible to practically and safely incorporate automated vehicles into our existing transport infrastructure. We are now taking the next step and undertaking the vital feasibility work necessary in order to start thinking about more ambitious deployments and establishing new commercial public transport services.

“The outcomes from the study are likely to inform self-driving mobility challenges not just here in Solihull but nationwide.”

Jonathan Smith, Midlands Future Mobility Programme Manager said: "The business case for scaling new mobility solutions is complex. It involves a granular understanding of the use case, safety, users, operations, and infrastructure. This project brings together a group of diverse experts to apply state of the art research and knowledge to address this question. Of critical importance is that the outcomes of this feasibility will inform mobility business cases both in the Midlands and the UK as a whole."

More information about this project

Partners: Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council (Lead), Aurrigo, Syselek (Uk) Ltd, Liftango Ltd, ZF Services UK Limited, West Midlands Combined Authority, Highways England, University of Warwick

Grant awarded: £300,000 (£197,664 from Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles’ Commercialising Connected and Automated Mobility programme and balance is made up by the commercial partners).

Find out more about WMG’s Validation and Verification research here: Verification and Validation (warwick.ac.uk)

Note to editors

Media contact:

Annie Slinn

Communications Officer (Sciences)

Annie.Slinn@warwick.ac.uk

Gabbie Lau

WMG Marketing and Communications Executive

Gabbie.Lau@warwick.ac.uk

WMG at the University of Warwick, is part of a unique six-way partner collaborative research and development project led by Aston Martin.

Project ELEVATION has received £9m funding from the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC) to supplement the research and development of Aston Martin’s in-house bespoke luxury battery electric vehicle platform.

Awarded following a competitive process, the government grant will support the development of Aston Martin’s luxury BEV platform and enable a route to net-zero, including investment in vehicle light weighting, a digital toolchain and electrification training.

Project ELEVATION is led by Aston Martin, and supported by the Manufacturing Technology Centre; Expert Tooling & Automation; Creative Composites; Fuzzy Logic Studio and WMG. The project will address the technical challenges of developing a lightweight, 800V traction battery pack and twin front electric drive unit (EDU) into a modular BEV platform with a bandwidth from supercar to SUV.

WMG’s role will focus on supporting the design, manufacture and life-cycle analysis (LCA) of the modular structural composite battery enclosure. Researchers in the composites group based in WMG's Materials Engineering Centre (MEC) will conduct materials evaluation and investigate automated high-volume composite manufacturing of hybrid structures using existing tooling and equipment to demonstrate attributes on early learning components. This knowledge will then be transferred to Creative Composites for manufacture of the project demonstrator components and provide LCA of the composite structure into the Manufacturing Technology Centre's holistic LCA model.

Roberto Fedeli, Group Chief Technology Officer of Aston Martin, said: “The award of funding from the APC is another major boost to our electrification strategy and constant strive for innovation. Providing further resources to explore the possibilities of our bespoke BEV platform, it will help achieve our ambition to be an in-house BEV technology leader in the ultra-luxury, high-performance segment. We look forward to progressing this project with our collaborative partners and thank the APC for their incredible support.”

Ian Constance, APC Chief Executive, said: “The 23rd round of our collaborative R&D competition coincides with the APC’s 10th anniversary. We’ve seen over £1.4 billion of investment into automotive projects since the APC was set up, and I am proud of the impact that we have made here in the UK. This latest announcement includes a diverse set of OEMs and suppliers that demonstrate the strength of UK automotive. They will further add to our portfolio of innovative projects and continue to drive the UK to deliver on its net zero ambition.”

Find out more about WMG’s composite light-weighting research here https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/research/materials/acrc