Mumbai-based healthcare AI startup Qure.ai announced that it has deployed its advanced diagnostic software at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, UK. The tool automates the interpretation of COVID-19 proliferation from chest X-rays, making it easier for healthcare professionals to monitor the extent and rate of progression of the viral infection.

Bolton NHS Foundation Trust provides patient care at Royal Bolton Hospital, in the community at health centers and clinics, as well as services such as district nursing and intermediate care.

WHY IT MATTERS

Frequent monitoring of a patient’s lung condition will help determine COVID-19's progression. However, quantifying the extent of the infection is a time-consuming step and the results can often be inconsistent. Qure.ai’s qXR solution can detect findings that are indicative of COVID-19 and also quantify the volume of the infection. The solution is a CE-certified automated chest X-ray interpretation tool that screens for tuberculosis and other abnormalities, and was modified to enable the monitoring of COVID-19 cases.

THE LARGER TREND

Healthcare technology and services vendors have been mobilizing to deploy solutions aimed at reducing the strain on healthcare practitioners as the COVID-19 outbreak continues. In the US, vendors like Thirona and Delft Imaging launched CAD4COVID, an artificial-intelligence tool which analyzes X-ray images and is intended to support healthcare specialists managing COVID-19 cases, according to a report by HealthCareITNews. 

China’s Ping An launched its COVID-19 smart image-reading system in February, which can conduct a comparative analysis of multiple CT scan images of the same patient and measure the changes in lesions. It helps doctors to track the development of the disease, evaluate the treatment and have prognosis of patients, ultimately it assists doctors to diagnose, triage and evaluate COVID-19 patients swiftly and effectively.

In February, Qure.ai raised $16M in funding, led by Sequoia India and was supported by MassMutual Ventures Southeast Asia. The fresh funds will be used for geographical expansion, product portfolio expansion and to support regulatory clearances, MobiHealthNews reported. 

ON THE RECORD

Fiona Noden, Chief Executive of Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The NHS needs to consider using all resources available to us as we fight against this devastating virus. I’m very proud that here in Bolton we’re taking the lead in using some of the very latest technology.”

“Our algorithm’s ability to localize, qualify the lesions and give a COVID-19 score almost instantaneously on a chest x-ray will enable doctors to classify patients into high, medium and low priority categories. The added capability of quantifying the percentage of lung affected due to COVID-19 lesions will enable objective monitoring of disease progression,” said Prashant Warier, CEO and Co-Founder, Qure.ai.