Medical physicists can help ensure healthcare safety

FROM medical imaging and cancer treatment to hospital workflows, artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming part of modern healthcare. It can help doctors analyse scans faster, improve efficiency, and support clinical decision-making.

AI-powered tools are expected to become increasingly common in clinical practice. For patients, this could mean faster diagnoses, shorter waiting times, and improved access to specialist expertise. These are exciting developments.

But there is a catch. Unlike conventional medical equipment, AI systems do not always remain unchanged after they are introduced. Their performance may be influenced by software updates, new datasets, changing patient populations, and evolving clinical practices.

A CT scanner generally performs consistently once it has been tested and commissioned. AI systems are different. A system that performs in one way today may not necessarily perform the same way tomorrow.

This matters more than many people realise. Imagine an AI tool developed and trained using patient data from Europe or North America. It may perform well in those settings, but can we automatically assume it will work equally well for patients in Kuala Lumpur, Kota Baru, Kuching, or rural Sabah?

Patient demographics, disease patterns, healthcare infrastructure, and clinical workflows can differ significantly. What works well in one healthcare environment may require additional validation in another.

That is why AI safety cannot stop at regulatory approval – it requires continuous oversight. Hospitals need to ensure these systems remain accurate, reliable, and fair throughout their use.

This is where a little-known group of healthcare professionals becomes increasingly important. Most Malaysians have never met a medical physicist. Yet their work affects countless patients every day.

Medical physicists help ensure that technologies such as CT scanners, MRI systems, radiotherapy equipment, and nuclear medicine devices operate safely and accurately. They play a crucial role in quality assurance, performance evaluation, risk management, and patient safety.

Traditionally, their focus has been on machines. In the age of AI, their responsibilities are expanding beyond machines to algorithms.

If a hospital introduces an AI system to help analyse medical images, someone must ask difficult questions. Was the system properly tested in the local environment? Does it perform equally well for different patient groups? Has its performance changed after a software update?

These are not merely technical concerns. They are questions of safety, fairness, accountability, and public trust.

Medical physicists already possess many of the skills needed to address these challenges. Their expertise in validation, quality assurance, risk assessment, and clinical technology places them in a unique position to support the safe adoption of AI in healthcare.

Their future roles may include monitoring AI performance, identifying potential biases, supporting cybersecurity efforts, and participating in hospital AI governance committees.

This does not mean AI should be feared. On the contrary, AI has enormous potential to improve healthcare delivery. However, powerful technologies require responsible oversight. As Malaysia continues its journey towards a more digital healthcare system, success will depend not only on how quickly AI is adopted, but also on how well it is governed.

MOHD FADHULLAH ABD HALIM

Universiti Malaya

The writer is a PhD student specialising in the study of AI-enabled medical device governance.