China issues ethical guidelines for AI use in medical imaging

China has issued new ethical guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence in medical imaging research, aiming to ensure the safe and responsible development and clinical use of the technology.

The Ministry of Science and Technology announced the guidelines on Friday (28 August).

AI medical imaging uses artificial intelligence to analyse CT scans, MRI images and ultrasound results, helping doctors detect diseases and improve the speed and accuracy of diagnosis.

However, the technology also involves large amounts of sensitive health information and raises concerns over privacy, data security, algorithmic bias and accountability.

The new guidelines, issued by the medical ethics subcommittee of the national science and technology ethics committee, set out six key principles. These include promoting human welfare, ensuring fairness, respecting human autonomy, protecting privacy and data security, maintaining safety and control, and improving transparency.

The guidelines said patients' health and interests must remain the top priority.

Researchers will be required to obtain informed consent from people taking part in AI medical imaging research. Participants will also have the right to withdraw their consent at any time.

The guidelines make clear that humans, not AI systems, will remain ultimately responsible for medical decisions. AI-generated results cannot be used as final diagnoses, while doctors will retain the final authority in making clinical decisions.

The rules also ban exaggerated claims about the performance of AI models.

Researchers and developers have also been urged to ensure fairness in AI systems and reduce the risk of biased diagnoses caused by unbalanced or limited training data.

The guidelines are aimed at promoting the responsible use of AI in healthcare while ensuring that patient safety, privacy and human oversight remain central to the development of the technology.