Fujifilm India has partnered with Bangalore-based multi-speciality private healthcare provider Sakra World Hospital to launch a new AI-enabled software assisting doctors in diagnosing COVID-19 pneumonia.

WHAT IT DOES

The COVID-19 Pneumonia Image Analysis Programme automatically analyses chest CT images and display findings. It features Fujifilm's picture archiving and communication system SYNAPSE 3D, a workstation system that visualises and analyses 3D images from CT and MRI scans.

WHY IT MATTERS

COVID-19 pneumonia, according to a Johns Hopkins Medicine article, tends to affect both lungs of a patient. Air sacs in the lungs can be filled with fluid which limits their ability to take in oxygen and causes shortness of breath, cough and other symptoms. "While most people recover from pneumonia without any lasting lung damage, pneumonia associated with COVID-19 can be severe," the article read. The lung injury from the disease may result in breathing difficulties that might last for months. 

Fujifilm said there is a "dire" need for solutions that support efficient tests and accurate diagnostic imaging, especially for patients with "post-COVID lung management issues".

MARKET SNAPSHOT

One of India's oldest medical schools, Andhra Medical College, has recently tried out a new AI platform that is also capable of assessing a COVID-19 patient's lung health. The Swaasa technology by Salcit Technologies uses machine learning to conduct audiometric analysis of cough sounds, along with temperature, oxygen saturation and symptoms. 

Indian health AI startup Endimension also has an AI-powered clinical support tool called ENDIM-AI-CXR which detects COVID-19 patterns from chest radiographs. Recently, it acquired 23 million rupees (over $300,000) in seed funding to scale its business.

ON THE RECORD

"With our new technology, we aim to reduce the burden on the healthcare workers who have been at the forefront in the fight against COVID-19," Fujifilm India Managing Director Koji Wada said.

"With this new AI technology, we hope to empower our healthcare workers in fighting such complications. We thank Fujifilm India for joining hands with us and empowering the Indian healthcare infrastructure with new innovations," Sakra World Hospital Managing Director Yuichi Nagano also stated.