Artificial intelligence in the medical physics community: An international survey

Abstract

To assess current perceptions, practices and education needs pertaining to artificial intelligence (AI) in the medical physics field. Methods: A web-based survey was distributed to the European Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics (EFOMP) through social media and email membership list. The survey included questions about education, personal knowledge, needs, research and professionalism around AI in medical physics. Demographics information were also collected. Responses were stratified and analysed by gender, type of institution and years of experience in medical physics. Statistical significance (p < 0.05) was assessed using paired t-test. Results: 219 people from 31 countries took part in the survey. 81% (n = 177) of participants agreed that AI will improve the daily work of Medical Physics Experts (MPEs) and 88% (n = 193) of respondents expressed the need for MPEs of specific training on AI. The average level of AI knowledge among participants was 2.3 ± 1.0 (mean ± standard deviation) in a 1-to-5 scale and 96% (n = 210) of participants showed interest in improving their AI skills. A significantly lower AI knowledge was observed for female participants (2.0 ± 1.0), compared to male responders (2.4 ± 1.0). 64% of participants indicated that they are not involved in AI projects. The percentage of female leading AI projects was significantly lower than the male counterparts (3% vs 19%). Conclusions: AI was perceived as a positive resource to support MPEs in their daily tasks. Participants demonstrated a strong interest in improving their current AI-related skills, enhancing the need for dedicated training for MPEs.

The perceptions of medical physicists towards relevance and impact of artificial intelligence

“…We have to start preparing with education; else, we will run the risk of becoming irrelevant [10,22]. EFOMP white paper also pointed out that it is essential that the medical physics professional education and training incorporate competency in this aspect [11].…”

“…The medical physicists must be the leaders in implementing AI for routines clinical practice [9]. Despite that, there are currently few medical physicists involved directly in AI projects [10].…”

“…Several studies have focused on healthcare professionals' perception and attitude towards AI [15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. In medical physics, the only study on the perceptions, practices, and education needs about AI focused on European medical physics experts and their needs [10]. This referred study's data are from a web-based survey applied to a total of 219 responders from 31 countries (93%, n = 203 of European countries and 7% of non-European countries).…”

Strategies to develop radiomics and machine learning models for lung cancer stage and histology prediction using small data samples

“…Since the beginning of the digital era, the amount of data produced has considerably increased, even in the field of medicine [5]. At the same time, the interest in the application of ML and DL approaches in medical data analysis has grown enormously [6][7][8][9]. A specific difficulty that is encountered in developing ML and DL analysis tools for medical applications is that the training processes often require large amounts of annotated data.…”

Focus issue: Artificial intelligence in medical physics

“…This paper is an extremely important contribution to the education of medical physicists in AI as the curriculum presented could be used not only as a module of the ESMP but also as a guideline for the programs of national organisations, members of EFOMP. Note that surveys had been performed to assess the perceptions of MPs towards relevance and impact of AI [4].…”