CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT06130397FRACT-AIUpdated Nov 24, 2025

AI Assisted Detection of Fractures on X-Rays (FRACT-AI)

An observational study in Fracture, Bone Fracture and Dislocation, sponsored by Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. Completed at 1 site in United Kingdom. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-11-24.

Sponsored by Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Cohort
Time perspective
Retrospective
Enrollment
21
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study has been added as a sub study to the Simulation Training for Emergency Department Imaging 2 study (ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT05427838). This work aims to evaluate the impact of an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enhanced algorithm called Boneview on the diagnostic accuracy of clinicians in the detection of fractures on plain XR (X-Ray). The study will create a dataset of 500 plain X-Rays involving standard images of all bones other than the skull and cervical spine, with 50% normal cases and 50% containing fractures. A reference 'ground truth' for each image to confirm the presence or absence of a fracture will be established by a senior radiologist panel. This dataset will then be inferenced by the Gleamer Boneview algorithm to identify fractures. Performance of the algorithm will be compared against the reference standard. The study will then undertake a Multiple-Reader Multiple-Case study in which clinicians interpret all images without AI and then subsequently with access to the output of the AI algorithm. 18 clinicians will be recruited as readers with 3 from each of six distinct clinical groups: Emergency Medicine, Trauma and Orthopedic Surgery, Emergency Nurse Practitioners, Physiotherapy, Radiology and Radiographers, with three levels of seniority in each group. Changes in reporting accuracy (sensitivity, specificity), confidence, and speed of readers in two sessions will be compared. The results will be analyzed in a pooled analysis for all readers as well as for the following subgroups: Clinical role, Level of seniority, Pathological finding, Difficulty of image. The study will demonstrate the impact of an AI interpretation as compared with interpretation by clinicians, and as compared with clinicians using the AI as an adjunct to their interpretation. The study will represent a range of professional backgrounds and levels of experience among the clinical element. The study will use plain film x-rays that will represent a range of anatomical views and pathological presentations, however x-rays will present equal numbers of pathological and non-pathological x-rays, giving equal weight to assessment of specificity and sensitivity. Ethics approval has already been granted, and the study will be disseminated through publication in peer-reviewed journals and presentation at relevant conferences.

02

Conditions studied

  • Fracture
  • Bone Fracture
  • Dislocation
  • Fracture Multiple
  • Fractures, Closed
  • Fractures, Open

Keywords

  • radiology
  • emergency medicine
  • artificial intelligence
  • XRays
  • Fractures
03

Who can participate

Ages eligible
Child (0–17), Adult (18–64), Older adult (65+)
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

Emergency medicine doctors, trauma and orthopaedic surgeons, emergency nurse practitioners, physiotherapists, general radiologists and radiographers reviewing X-rays as part of their routine clinical practice, currently working in the National Health Service (NHS).

Readers will be recruited from across 5 NHS organisations which comprise the Thames Valley Emergency Medicine Research Network (www.TaVERNresearch.org):

  • Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust
  • Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
  • Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust
  • Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Inclusion criteria

  • Emergency medicine doctors, trauma and orthopaedic surgeons, emergency nurse practitioners, physiotherapists, general radiologists and radiographers reviewing X-rays as part of their routine clinical practice.
  • Currently working in the National Health Service (NHS).

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Non-radiology physicians with previous formal postgraduate XR reporting training.
  • Non-radiology physicians with previous career in radiology
04

Study design

Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Retrospective
Enrollment
21 participants (actual)
Patient registry
No

Groups and cohorts

  • Readers/participants

    Reader Selection: 18 readers will be selected from the following five clinical specialty groups (3 readers each): * Emergency Medicine * Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery * Emergency Nurse Practitioners * Physiotherapy * General Radiology * Radiographers And from the following level of seniority/experience: * Consultant/Senior/Equivalent - \>10yrs experience * Middle Grade/Registrar/Equivalent - 5-10yrs experience * Junior Grade/Senior House Officer/Equivalent - \<5yrs experience Each specialty reader group will include 1 reader at each level of experience. Readers will be recruited from across 5 NHS organisations which comprise the Thames Valley Emergency Medicine Research Network (www.TaVERNresearch.org): * Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust * Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust * Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust * Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust * Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    Other: Cases reading

  • Ground truthers

    Two consultant musculoskeletal radiologists. A third senior musculoskeletal radiologist's opinion (\>20 years experience) will undertake arbitration.

    Other: Ground truthing

Interventions

  • OtherCases reading

    The reading will be done remotely via the Report and Image Quality Control site (www.RAIQC.com), an online platform allowing medical imaging viewing and reporting. Participants can work from any location, but the work must be done from a computer with internet access. For avoidance of doubt, the work cannot be performed from a phone or tablet. The project is divided into two phases and participants are required to complete both phases. The estimated total involvement in the project is up to 20-24 hours. Phase 1: Time allowed: 2 weeks \- Participants must review 500 X-rays and express a clinical opinion through a structured reporting template (multiple choice, no open text required). Rest/washout period - Time allowed: 4 weeks, to mitigate the effects of recall bias. Phase 2 - Time allowed: 2 weeks \- Review 500 X-rays together with an AI report for each case and express their clinical opinion through the same structured reporting template used in Phase 1.

  • OtherGround truthing

    Two consultant musculoskeletal radiologists will independently review the images to establish the 'ground truth' findings on the XRs, where a consensus is reached this will then be used as the reference standard. In the case of disagreement, a third senior musculoskeletal radiologist's opinion (\>20 years experience) will undertake arbitration. A difficulty score will be assigned to each abnormality by the ground truthers using a 4-point Likert scale (1 being easy/obvious to 4 being hard/poorly visualised).

05

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Performance of AI algorithm: sensitivity

    Evaluation of the Gleamer Boneview algorithm will be performed comparing it to the reference standard in order to determine sensitivity.

    Time frame: During 4 weeks of reading time

  2. Performance of AI algorithm: specificity

    Evaluation of the Gleamer Boneview will be performed comparing it to the reference standard in order to determine specificity.

    Time frame: During 4 weeks of reading time

  3. Performance of AI algorithm: Area under the ROC Curve (AU ROC)

    Evaluation of the Gleamer Boneview algorithm will be performed comparing it to the reference standard. Continuous probability score from the algorithm will be utilised for the ROC analyses, while binary classification results with a predefined operating cut-off will be used for evaluation of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value.

    Time frame: During 4 weeks of reading time

  4. Performance of readers with and without AI assistance: Sensitivity

    The study will include two sessions (with and without AI overlay), with all 18 readers reviewing all 500 XR cases each time separated by a washout period to mitigate recall bias. The cases will be randomised between the two reads and for every reader.

    Time frame: During 4 weeks of reading time

  5. Performance of readers with and without AI assistance: Specificity

    The study will include two sessions (with and without AI overlay), with all 18 readers reviewing all 500 XR cases each time separated by a washout period to mitigate recall bias. The cases will be randomised between the two reads and for every reader.

    Time frame: During 4 weeks of reading time

  6. Performance of readers with and without AI assistance: Area under the ROC Curve (AU ROC)

    The study will include two sessions (with and without AI overlay), with all 18 readers reviewing all 500 XR cases each time separated by a washout period to mitigate recall bias. The cases will be randomised between the two reads and for every reader.

    Time frame: During 4 weeks of reading time

  7. Reader speed with vs without AI assistance.

    Mean time taken to review a XR, with vs without AI assistance.

    Time frame: During 4 weeks of reading time

06

Study locations

1 site
  • Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
    Oxford, Oxfordshire OX3 9DU, United Kingdom
07

References and documents

Publications

  • Hussain F, Cooper A, Carson-Stevens A, Donaldson L, Hibbert P, Hughes T, Edwards A. Diagnostic error in the emergency department: learning from national patient safety incident report analysis. BMC Emerg Med. 2019 Dec 4;19(1):77. doi: 10.1186/s12873-019-0289-3. PubMed 31801474 ↗
  • Donaldson LJ, Reckless IP, Scholes S, Mindell JS, Shelton NJ. The epidemiology of fractures in England. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2008 Feb;62(2):174-80. doi: 10.1136/jech.2006.056622. PubMed 18192607 ↗
  • National Clinical Guideline Centre (UK). Fractures (Non-Complex): Assessment and Management. London: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE); 2016 Feb. Available from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK344251/ PubMed 26913322 ↗
  • Blazar E, Mitchell D, Townzen JD. Radiology Training in Emergency Medicine Residency as a Predictor of Confidence in an Attending. Cureus. 2020 Jan 9;12(1):e6615. doi: 10.7759/cureus.6615. PubMed 32064195 ↗
  • Snaith B, Hardy M. Emergency department image interpretation accuracy: The influence of immediate reporting by radiology. Int Emerg Nurs. 2014 Apr;22(2):63-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ienj.2013.04.004. Epub 2013 May 30. PubMed 23726985 ↗
  • York TJ, Jenkins PJ, Ireland AJ. Reporting Discrepancy Resolved by Findings and Time in 2947 Emergency Department Ankle X-rays. Skeletal Radiol. 2020 Apr;49(4):601-611. doi: 10.1007/s00256-019-03317-7. Epub 2019 Nov 21. PubMed 31754742 ↗
  • van Leeuwen KG, Schalekamp S, Rutten MJCM, van Ginneken B, de Rooij M. Artificial intelligence in radiology: 100 commercially available products and their scientific evidence. Eur Radiol. 2021 Jun;31(6):3797-3804. doi: 10.1007/s00330-021-07892-z. Epub 2021 Apr 15. PubMed 33856519 ↗
  • Duron L, Ducarouge A, Gillibert A, Laine J, Allouche C, Cherel N, Zhang Z, Nitche N, Lacave E, Pourchot A, Felter A, Lassalle L, Regnard NE, Feydy A. Assessment of an AI Aid in Detection of Adult Appendicular Skeletal Fractures by Emergency Physicians and Radiologists: A Multicenter Cross-sectional Diagnostic Study. Radiology. 2021 Jul;300(1):120-129. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2021203886. Epub 2021 May 4. PubMed 33944629 ↗
  • Fenton JJ, Taplin SH, Carney PA, Abraham L, Sickles EA, D'Orsi C, Berns EA, Cutter G, Hendrick RE, Barlow WE, Elmore JG. Influence of computer-aided detection on performance of screening mammography. N Engl J Med. 2007 Apr 5;356(14):1399-409. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa066099. PubMed 17409321 ↗
  • Chilamkurthy S, Ghosh R, Tanamala S, Biviji M, Campeau NG, Venugopal VK, Mahajan V, Rao P, Warier P. Deep learning algorithms for detection of critical findings in head CT scans: a retrospective study. Lancet. 2018 Dec 1;392(10162):2388-2396. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31645-3. Epub 2018 Oct 11. PubMed 30318264 ↗
  • Patel MR, Norgaard BL, Fairbairn TA, Nieman K, Akasaka T, Berman DS, Raff GL, Hurwitz Koweek LM, Pontone G, Kawasaki T, Sand NPR, Jensen JM, Amano T, Poon M, Ovrehus KA, Sonck J, Rabbat MG, Mullen S, De Bruyne B, Rogers C, Matsuo H, Bax JJ, Leipsic J. 1-Year Impact on Medical Practice and Clinical Outcomes of FFRCT: The ADVANCE Registry. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2020 Jan;13(1 Pt 1):97-105. doi: 10.1016/j.jcmg.2019.03.003. Epub 2019 Mar 17. PubMed 31005540 ↗
  • Obuchowski NA, Bullen J. Multireader Diagnostic Accuracy Imaging Studies: Fundamentals of Design and Analysis. Radiology. 2022 Apr;303(1):26-34. doi: 10.1148/radiol.211593. Epub 2022 Feb 15. PubMed 35166584 ↗
  • Smith BJ, Hillis SL. Multi-reader multi-case analysis of variance software for diagnostic performance comparison of imaging modalities. Proc SPIE Int Soc Opt Eng. 2020 Feb;11316:113160K. doi: 10.1117/12.2549075. Epub 2020 Mar 16. PubMed 32351258 ↗
  • Novak A, Hollowday M, Espinosa Morgado AT, Oke J, Shelmerdine S, Woznitza N, Metcalfe D, Costa ML, Wilson S, Kiam JS, Vaz J, Limphaibool N, Ventre J, Jones D, Greenhalgh L, Gleeson F, Welch N, Mistry A, Devic N, Teh J, Ather S. Evaluating the impact of artificial intelligence-assisted image analysis on the diagnostic accuracy of front-line clinicians in detecting fractures on plain X-rays (FRACT-AI): protocol for a prospective observational study. BMJ Open. 2024 Sep 5;14(9):e086061. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-086061. PubMed 39237277 ↗
08

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06130397
Lead sponsor
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust
Collaborators
Gleamer
Responsible party
Alex Novak (Primary Investigator, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust) — Principal investigator
First posted
Nov 14, 2023
Start date
Feb 8, 2024
Primary completion
Oct 31, 2024
Completion
Jun 1, 2025
Last update
Nov 24, 2025

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Nov 2025. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion