Information technology has played a pivotal role in China’s response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. From proactive surveillance for rapid detection and diagnosis of infection to immediate isolation and rigorous contact tracing, IT has been a valuable tool. The AI-assisted radiological image interpretation of coronavirus and intervention has helped a lot in diagnosing COVID-19 patients quicker.
A similar cloud-based coronavirus pneumonia diagnosis service using AI-assisted CT image interpretation was launched by Huawei Cloud recently. The service has been developed in collaboration with Huazhong University of Science & Technology and Lanwon Technology.
This new service utilizes artificial intelligence, such as computer vision and medical image analysis. It will also help in alleviating the shortage of imaging doctors.
For the uninitiated, Coronavirus causes multiple lesions called fibrosis in the lungs. These lesions go through rapid changes, which is why multiple reviews and rechecks of CT scans are required in a short period. Over the past few weeks, this has majorly increased the workload on doctors. However, with the new service, doctors can get quick and accurate CT quantification results.
The National Health Commission of China has included the diagnosis solutions put forth by Huawei’s AI alongside its prescribed treatment and detection solutions. Hence, similar services can have a significant impact on improving the infrastructure of the overall diagnosis system. Conventional techniques require doctors to draw ROIs and test them separately manually.
