{"id":2211364,"date":"2026-10-21T11:05:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T08:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2211364"},"modified":"2026-10-21T11:05:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T08:05:15","slug":"berkshire-first-in-uk-for-robot-arthur-hand-arthritis-scans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2211364","title":{"rendered":"Berkshire first in UK for Robot Arthur hand arthritis scans"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/cec7\/live\/50442730-cd44-11f1-8177-0f8bd59b54c4.jpg”]<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\"RoyalRoyal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Using the robot at the hospital patients can have a scan, discuss the results and get a treatment plan the same day<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

A robot is being used for the first time in the UK to scan patients’ hands and wrists to speed up rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Arthur, at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading scans while AI program Diana interprets the images and sends the results to clinicians so patients get a treatment plan the same day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Professor Antoni Chan, consultant rheumatologist and physician said: “We are delighted to be the first site in the UK to use Arthur. Earlier diagnosis is very important as joint damage can occur if treatment is delayed.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

By using the robot, the hospital hopes to increase patients and offer those with rheumatoid arthritis more frequent scans so their treatment can be monitored.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

James Blythe, chief executive officer at the trust said: “There are seven countries around the world that use this technology and we are the first place in the UK to bring it on stream. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

“This investment is about using technology to deliver real improvements for our patients and colleagues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

“It means we can get to patients earlier and make interventions that add years to life and life to years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust (RBFT) said its rheumatology department in Reading currently carries out 200 hand MRIs a year with demand for their services rising every year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Proff Chan said: “We can see patients on the day of the clinic they can have the scans and then we can make a decision – this does not replace clinician this helps the decision making and then we can proceed with treatment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

“It really improves the time to diagnose so we don’t delay treatment.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

The trust said the robot forms part of the wider work taking place across RBFT to invest in technology.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

It said other examples included recent investment in new pharmacy dispensing robots, and our work with AI in the to speed up the diagnosis of patients who have had a stroke.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cx98z65zj775o”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/cec7\/live\/50442730-cd44-11f1-8177-0f8bd59b54c4.jpg”] Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust Using the robot at the hospital patients can have a scan, discuss the results and get a treatment plan the same day A robot is being used for the first time in the UK to scan patients’ hands and wrists to speed up rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis. Arthur, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-2211364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2211364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2211364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2211364\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2211364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2211364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2211364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}