Blood test results will now be available in minutes thanks to a newly installed AI system following a €4.5 million investment at the Mater Dei pathology lab, Health Minister Chris Fearne said on Friday.

Fearne said that the AI technology will also be able to recognise the need for further tests which to date were determined after doctors analysed the test results.

Currently this lab carries out 50,000 tests, and this new system which has already started being used this week, will allow for 600 tests per hour instead of the previous system which administered one test per hour.

Speaking from one of these labs at Mater Dei, Fearne said that all the employees had been trained to use the systems and thanked the engineers for bringing this system to life.

Clinical Chairperson for the Pathology Department at Mater Dei Hospital, Christopher Barbara added that thanks to this quicker system the quality of treatment will be able to improve in tandem.