Scotland scientists develop AI-based test using X-rays to detect COVID-19

Scientists in Scotland have reportedly created an AI (artificial intelligence) based test that detects COVID-19,accurately, using X-rays in just a few minutes. The testing platform, developed at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS), can detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus much faster than a PCR test which generally takes around 2 hours.

According to the scientists, this technology can eventually relieve strain on stressed hospitals, especially in countries where PCR tests are not easily available.

Under this approach, X-ray technology compare scans to a database of around 3000 images of patients with COVID-19, people with viral pneumonia, and healthy individuals.

It then makes use of the AI process, an algorithm known as a deep convolutional neural network, generally used for detecting visual imagery, to diagnose the presence of the infection.

As per a credible source, this approach offered more than 98 per cent accurate results during a considerable testing phase.

Professor Naeem Ramzan from UWS, who led the whole research, said that there had been a need for a reliable and quick tool that can detect COVID-19, which has been only rising owing to the fast-spreading of the new variant Omicron.

Professor emphasized that many countries cannot conduct a large number of COVID tests as they have limited diagnosis tools. However, this method utilizes the easily available technology for detecting the virus quickly.

Although, the researchers also explained that symptoms of COVID-19 are not observable in X-rays in the early stages of the infection, so the technology cannot be fully be replaced by the PCR tests.

Nevertheless, it can still emerge as an important tool for restraining the virus from spreading, particularly when the PCR tests are not available easily while also supporting the analysis of what treatment could be the best.

Notably, the team is planning to enlarge the study by integrating a larger database of X-ray images taken by the different X-ray machine models to evaluate the approach's appropriateness in a clinical setting.

Source Credit - https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/science/new-ai-based-test-uses-x-rays-to-detect-covid-19-in-few-minutes/articleshow/89020508.cms