NEWPROMRI-PATHWAY - A New Prostate Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Pathway

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men worldwide. The demand for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to diagnose and manage prostate cancer is continually growing. There is, however, a severe global shortage of radiologists who review and make decisions on prostate scans. This shortage causes compromises that are inefficient and negatively affect care provision, patient outcomes, and patient experiences. Two key examples of these compromises are that every patient receives a gadolinium contrast injection during a prostate MRI scan and patients often require multiple imaging appointments. If radiologists' knowledge of making prostate MRI decisions around these compromises could be harnessed and passed to radiographers (who are trained to acquire the MRIs but currently do not review them) with a computerised system to support clinical decision-making, this would have enormous potential to improve the diagnosing and managing prostate cancer.