Qure.ai can detect Covid-19 lung infections in less than a minute…
Qure.ai can detect Covid-19 lung infections in less than a minute, help triage patients
Mumbai-based Qure.ai has developed a solution that can interpret coronavirus-related lung abnormalities in seconds. This helps triage patients who need to be tested further for COVID-19 using a RT-PCR test.
In the past four weeks, since Qure.ai launched the solution, it has been able to deploy the service of its Chest X-ray AI product in 33 sites across South Asia, Europe and North America.
With a population of 1.3 billion, India has relatively low cases of Covid-19- 33,050 infections and a death toll of 1,074. However, behind the numbers is a doubt on whether India is testing enough to be confident about the count. And, scaling up the number of tests is itself a challenge. So far, only one homegrown testing kit has been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the imported kits are either faulty or delayed because of huge global demand.
Further, the traditional methods of testing each person take nearly eight hours and results come out within a day or two. In places like Delhi, where the number of testing has one up in the recent days, it is taking about 10 days in some cases to get a report. To help boost the testing process, Mumbai-based Qure.ai has developed an AI-powered solution which can classify patients as High, Medium or Low risk for Covid-19 in less than a minute.
Covid-19 patients need consistent monitoring of lung infection by screening chest X-rays and Qure.ai’s solution reads and interprets chest X-ray in seconds and identifies how much of the lung is infected.
“Our Chest X-Ray AI solution named qXR can help triage patients who need to be tested further for COVID-19 using a RT-PCR test. As many nations see a shortage of test kits, this can prioritize who needs to be tested and who needs to be asked to self-isolate,” said Prashant Warier, CEO and co-founder, Qure.ai told ET Digital.
Tracing Covid-19 abnormalities in seconds According to Warier, qXR is capable of detecting ground-glass opacities (an area indicating hazy lung opacity), lung consolidation (when the small airways in the lungs are filled with something other than air) and other abnormalities that are indicative of Covid-19. It also gives metrics such as percentage of the volume and size of the lung affected by the abnormalities. qXR’s algorithm then uses a compilation of the location, size and type of abnormalities and presents the results.
“By quantifying the extent of the lung infected, qXR can help objectively track disease progression, which can help measure response to different therapeutic approaches. This could help optimize treatment plans for patients at different stages of COVID-19, and also potentially help in drug discovery,” he said.
With Qure.ai’s rapid interpretation of X-ray scans, a huge amount of workload can lifted off the shoulders of healthcare professionals saving their time and money. The health tech firm has partnered with Italy’s San Raffaele University Hospital to help doctors monitor the disease progression of Covid-19 in patients by tracking changes in every chest X-ray. It is also working with various Indian public and private firms to help them in a similar manner.
Prashant Warrier, CEO & CO-Founder, Kure.ai
In the past four weeks, since Qure.ai launched the solution, it has been able to deploy the service of its Chest X-ray AI product in 33 sites across South Asia, Europe and North America. “We are processing around 5000 suspected cases on a weekly basis,” he said.
Along with qXR, the firm has launched an app-based solution qScout for frontline healthcare professionals. qScout helps in contact monitoring & remote triaging of COVID-19 patients. A user has to simply register himself or herself using their smartphones and qScout will enable remote monitoring of their symptoms through a platform agnostic chatbot. In simple words, qScout provides a virtual healthcare program for patients.
It can be accessed through both mobile and laptop. It provides the option to add linked contacts who might be at risk after which the qScout-Monitor connects with the contacts and make sure their symptoms are screened daily. An alert is sent to the user once any of the contacts start showing symptoms.
“qScout also hosts an embedded AI to map hotspots for door-to-door contact tracing thereby optimizing supply chain and test kit distribution for government authorities and health workers,” Warier explained. The firm has partnered with the Ministry of Oman to provide qScout’s service for monitoring and remote triaging of Covid-19 patients.
Founded in 2016 by Warier and Pooja Rao, Qure.ai leverages emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and deep learning to bring healthcare solutions. It has a presence in more than 20 countries. Its solutions for tackling tuberculosis led to developing the AI-feature to battle the covid-19 pandemic. While Warier is a machine learning and AI expert, Rao has more than ten years of experience in the industry, creating data driven solutions for pharma and healthcare clients.
