Harvard radiologist uses AI to detect intimate partner violence: 5 things to know

An emergency radiologist at Boston-based Brigham and Women's Hospital has developed an AI tool to identify patients at risk for intimate partner violence and related health issues with roughly 80% accuracy, according to an Oct. 17 report from CBS News affiliate WBZ.

Bharti Khurana, MD, an associate professor of radiology at Boston-based Harvard Medical School and the founding director of Harvard's Trauma Imaging Research and Innovation Center is the creator of the automated clinical decision support tool.

Here are five things to know about the tool:

  1. Dr. Khurana told WBZ that the tool can detect intimate partner violence four years before the patient self-reports.

  2. The tool analyzes radiological data from medical imaging performed in the emergency room and the patient's clinical history to provide a real-time assessment.

  3. The intimate partner violence annotation appears in a "safe zone" in the medical record only accessible by the patient and their providers.

  4. Dr. Khurana and her team developed conversation guides for providers to address intimate partner violence with patients. They also created QR codes as a way to share resources without needing the patient to take physical information home.

  5. The tool was built on Brigham and Women's patients, validated on patients at Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham hospital and continues to undergo refinement. 

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