The world is under a great threat of coronavirus. More than 3000000 people are being infected by this virus and more than 200,000 are dead. The world is still trying to make vaccine of the virus. On the other hand some doctors and scientists are working on using AI to treat patients.

A lead radiologist Rizwan Malik at the Royal Bolton Hospital, run by NHS in the UK had plans about AI. In his hospital patients often had to wait about six hours for a specialist to look at their x-rays. Malik saw its potential to make his job easier. So in the situation if an emergency room doctor could get an initial reading from an AI-based tool, it could greatly reduce the wait time. The doctor could follow up on the AI system’s reading with a detailed diagnosis later.

In September Malik took action on the thoughts and identified a promising AI-based chest x-ray system called qXR from a Mumbai based company Qure.ai. He then proposed to test the x-ray system over six months. First the x-rays are checked by trainees than this tool checks them. If the results are according to Malik’s plans than he would face the system in permanently double-checks his trainees work for him. The proposal was approved after four months of reviews from various hospitals NHS committees and forums.

But before the trial could kick-off, Covid-19 hit the UK. What began as a pet interest suddenly looked like a blessing. When the researchers find that the Covid-19 patient’s lungs show abnormalities so they need to x-ray every patient. X-rays also proved to be the most affordable ways to triage Covid-19 patients. In this case AI tools can be very handy. So within weeks the Mumbai based company Qure.ai, retooled the qXR to detect COVID induced Pneumonia. Malik proposed new clinical trials for the system to perform and get initial readings, rather than just double checks human ones.

Well approval demands trials of moths but in the circumstances the systems get the approval. The medical director said, ‘”Well, do you know what? If you think it’s good enough, crack on and do it,’” Malik recalls. “‘We’ll deal with all the rest of it after the event.’”

The Royal Hospital is among the few hospitals which are using AI to work with the staff in hospitals. As the need for staff increase due to the pandemic the more AI tools are being used in hospitals and labs around the world. Due to more demand for AI tools in the medical field many companies around the world are making AI software and machines in order to get more profit. It also helps the world in tackling this virus which is spreading very rapidly around the world and also proving to be very fatal.

The adverse effect of the AI may be the situation. As it proves to be very helpful to the doctors it also can be very dangerous for the patients. Because the testing time for the tools is very less so many tools are used without testing putting patients in harm. Before the pandemic doctors are also looking toward the use of AI in the health department. Deep learning particularly has shown results for analyzing medical images to identify diseases like breast cancer or lung cancer. Studies have also shown the ability of AI in monitoring patients at home as well as in intensive care units.

AI is not that common because there are some issues. Like privacy concerns make it difficult to obtain data of the individuals. Issues related to bias and generalizability make regulators cautious to approve. Also for approval of using AI in hospitals need some time for trials. Analyzing MRI images has proven to be a particularly productive area in researches. Technologists have shown that algorithms are able to identify abnormalities in X-rays.

AI has seen slow to gain a foothold. But its there we can feel it that one day it will prove to be life-saving for humans. AI has shown its worth by diagnosing the abnormalities in the lungs.

In France the pandemic spreads so rapidly that the government failed to ramp up the testing capacity. Triaging patients via x-rays though less accurate than PCR diagnostic become a fallback solution to the problem. Patients who could get genetic tests, results can take up to 12 hours or even more. By comparison Vizyon’s system using Lunit’s software takes only 10 minutes to scan a patient can show the probability of infection. This is very helpful for the doctors because the old ways they had to wait for hours even days to jump to a conclusion. Durand says, “When they’re a lot of patients coming, it’s really an attractive solution”.

Qure.ai uses a combination of deep learning to detect the type of infection in the lungs. To enhance it the company worked with the panel of experts to review the latest medical literature. They are working on introducing new techniques to find out the defective lungs. It also helps them to identify the lungs of COVID-19 patients.

Qure.ai has expanded its services to Italy, Mexico, and the US. Vizyon has signed many partnerships with two of the biggest hospitals in the country and is also in talks with hospitals in the Middle East and Africa. Lunit is working with hospitals in Africa, Mexico, France, and Italy. Both Qure.ai and Lunit’s lung screening products were certified by the European Union’s and health agency before the start of the pandemic. The companies proposed the same functionalities.

In conclusion, I just say that the AI will be very helpful for humans. Artificial intelligence can change the future of the medical department in the world for example the patient can seek doctor’s advice by showing its MRI scans or other with the help of AI while sitting at home. AI is helping doctors in the treatment of Covid-19 patients. AI can not only humans it also can be used to protect animals that are endangered and also cure them. We should strongly support AI because it can change our lives.

To learn more about AI.

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