The coronavirus has created an unexpected outbreak and caught most countries unprepared, forcing everyone, especially the medical services, to look out for some solutions.
This eventually created some pressure on health care organisations. Still, on the brighter side, this event has sparked individuals, communities, and others to think differently and innovate for the public good.
Do follow our special coverage on coronavirus over here.
AI tool to analyse X-ray images!
In this regard, last week, Dutch companies Thirona and Delft Imaging launched CAD4COVID, a new artificial intelligence tool that analyses X-ray images to support healthcare specialists who manage COVID-19 cases.
Consequently, Thirona and Delft Imaging are partnering with several hospitals and academic institutes worldwide to validate CAD4COVID. The companies have made the tool available for free-of-charge in support of the crisis.
How it works?
CAD4COVID will generate a score between 0 and 100, indicating the extent of COVID-19 related abnormalities, display such lung abnormalities through a heatmap and quantify the percentage of the lung that is affected.
Indicates affected lungs!
Delft Imaging is specialised in tuberculosis (TB) screening and with its existing CAD4TB solution, which uses artificial intelligence to screen for TB, over six million people have been tested in over forty countries.
Guido Geerts, CEO of Delft Imaging and Thirona, about CAD4COVID:
“Tuberculosis still takes the lives of 1.6 million people every year. It is incredibly challenging to tackle, especially as it is most active in low-resource settings where there is limited infrastructure. Our breadth of experience in such settings has made us very concerned about the implications that COVID-19 can have on countries where healthcare infrastructure is already under pressure.”
Together with its sister company and AI-specialist Thirona, Delft Imaging developed a tool to help triage COVID-19 cases and indicate the affected lung tissue.
CAD4COVID builds on the technical core of the CAD4TB software, developed and distributed by Thirona and Delft Imaging, respectively. These organisations will help with the development and validation of the software to support healthcare professionals in these times of crisis.
Useful tool in resource-constrained environment!
This software is used by Ministries of Health and tuberculosis-focused institutions, many of whom are now being tasked with helping to stop the spread of COVID-19 in their respective countries.
At present, the RT-PCR test and the CT scan are being preferred for detecting COVID-19, but in resource-constrained settings where the availability of such tools is limited, X-ray can be a useful tool in the fight against COVID-19.
The two Netherland-based companies aim to improve the CAD4COVID software as more partners sign up continuously.
Guido Geerts added:
“Many of the measures implemented across Europe and the United States will be difficult to replicate in Africa. How can you quarantine in a small household full of people? How do you ‘stock-up’ when you live day-to-day? We wanted to leverage our expertise and experience in artificial intelligence to support the fight against COVID-19. That is also why we decided to make CAD4COVID available free-of-charge; to end this pandemic, we need to have a significant impact, quickly.”
How can you access CAD4COVID?
CAD4COVID can be accessed by filling out the form at the bottom of this page: https://www.delft.care/cad4covid/
When this is done, you will be given access through a CAD4COVID account that will be created for your facility.
Main image credits: Thirona and Delft Imaging
Stay tuned to Silicon Canals for more European technology news
