India’s fight against the COVID-19 outbreak has been unique. While many countries initiated lockdowns much later, India took strict measures at the initial stage and tried to contain the virus. Many startups and technology firms came up with technology solutions to support the entire country in general and its healthcare sector in particular while we are facing unprecedented challenges. Government agencies are also rolling out many tech-based solutions, mainly on emerging technologies like machine learning and Artificial Intelligence, to combat COVID-19.

To detect COVID-19, the National Informatics Centre, (NIC) the technology arm of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s (MeitY), is working on an (AI)-based diagnostic prototype for early the detection of coronavirus. The AI-based solution can detect the disease using chest X-rays of the patients and remotely diagnosing it. Employing this method, health officials can timely isolate the patients and treat them. NITI Aayog is collaborating with the MeitY on its AI project.

According to NIC, the new AI-based diagnosis method can help healthcare professionals to detect the infection even with patients with no symptoms or mild illness. This could be a pathbreaking way for the treatment says the centre as it will make it possible for radiologists and doctors to detect infection even in asymptomatic patients and prioritise their treatment. At present, identifying COVID-19 in asymptomatic patients is proving to be a big challenge for healthcare workers.

The AI way

Many nations around the globe are currently working to develop AI-based technology to examine X-rays and detect COVID. For instance, a report by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers, artificial intelligence (AI) could be used to expand the role of chest X-ray imaging or CT in diagnosing and assessing coronavirus infection. The researchers believe that there is undiscovered potential for AI-enhanced imaging, and the technology can be used for risk stratification, categorising patients for the type of care they need and also for treatment monitoring.

In the algorithm designed by NIC, a large number of chest X-ray images will act as a data set to train the model. For this, NIC is collaborating with some medical institutes across the country. The institutions will provide the chest X-rays of their patients to prepare the prototype. Once the system has received data from the source, it can make assumptions and will be able to predict.

NIC is working on CollabDDS Online Radiological Services platform and Collaborative Digital Diagnosis System, that gives a real-time collaborative ecosystem to conceive X-Ray images and DICOM data for radiological analysis.

The hospitals or healthcentres can upload the chest X-rays to the data centre of NIC, which will be secured, says NIC. An image with a patient ID could only be uploaded to the system. The AI algorithm can analyse the Xray and predict the disease.

NIC is also working on a prototype for virtual OPD facilities in a few hospitals and health assistance to citizens through a chatbot. Through an Interactive Voice Response System, patients can book and call the doctors to get medical advice on a landline or through a mobile phone. The directions could be sent through an SMS or an email. Using a chatbot, a user will also be able to text chat on the portal and get information on COVID-19.

According to Nagesh Shastri, Deputy Director-General, NIC, the COVID-19 pandemic is prompting the globe to adopt new concepts like using genomic studies of the virus for developing vaccines. “There is a lot of information, which is impossible for mere humans to assimilate and search for patterns. This is where emerging technologies like AI can be harnessed to augment the intelligence available to human, and as a technology savvy organisation, it is our endeavour to help the Indian government in its fight against COVID-19.” he reportedly told.

Image by fernando zhiminaicela from Pixabay