New SingHealth-Health ministry AI system to predict amputation risks early in diabetic patients

It aims to detect risks three to five years early.

Singapore’s SingHealth and the Ministry of Health’s Office for Healthcare Transformation (MOHT) developed a personalised risk-based monitoring system for patients with diabetes and high risk of lower extremity amputation (LEA).

According to a press release, the LEA – Neural Network Model (LEA-Net) aims to predict the risk of LEA three to five years before patients develop foot ulcers and infections.

The system harnesses artificial intelligence through a neural network model to enable earlier interventions, thereby reducing avoidable amputations.

It categorises patients into low and high-risk groups, facilitating targeted interventions for higher-risk patients and reducing their wait times to see vascular specialists.

The team found that early-stage interventions average about $25,000, whilst late-stage treatments can exceed $40,000 to $50,000 per patient.