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Heading- ‘Point-of-care TB screening to get boost with India’s first portable X-ray device & AI’ | India News



MUMBAI: Point-of-care TB (tuberculosis) screening is expected to get a major boost with the process becoming faster and scalable with artificial intelligence (AI). Serum Institute-backed Mylab Discovery Solutions will soon launch India’s first-of-its kind portable device embedded with AI software for early detection of tuberculosis (TB) and lung health issues through chest X-rays.
Under a tie-up, Mylab’s X-ray device will leverage healthtech start-up Qure.ai’s software to improve the accuracy, speed and accessibility in TB testing and diagnosis, Hasmukh Rawal, managing director of Mylab told TOI. The device with special software will screen patients for presumptive tuberculosis within minutes, shortening the time substantially from several hours, and even days, he added.
The Pune-based company is credited with developing India’s first indigenous Covid-19 RT-PCR and the first rapid-antigen home test kit.
`MyBeam’ is a first-of-its-kind handheld X-ray device made in India, by Lipomic, a X-ray technology firm in which Mylab has 51% share, he stated. The device is the latest addition to Mylab’s suite of solutions for screening, detection and prevention of TB.
The device offers greater speed as it acquires images within a few minutes, is extremely compact, and provides expanded clinical coverage. Hence it can be used at resource-limited settings or where there’s a lack of access to equipment.
The collaboration is expected to be a key accelerator in the country’s mission to screen and detect patients for pulmonary TB and support the government’s agenda to eliminate TB by 2025. India remains the highest contributor, accounting for about a fourth of the global TB cases. In 2021, an estimated 10.6 million people fell ill with tuberculosis worldwide. Experts say, early and accurate diagnosis is critical to effective treatment and disease control.
Prashant Warier, co-founder and CEO, Qure.ai, said “The AI-enabled diagnostic tool is an affordable solution and an ideal example of how technology can make a difference in the lives of millions’’. The AI solution flags TB cases within minutes and is then referred to Sputum testing – the process from flagging to sputum is within minutes.
Since 2020, Qure.ai’s software is being increasingly deployed for TB screening, and so far, over 1.7 million scans across 250+ sites have been processed since inception.
At present, the software is licensed to government hospitals and public health centres for screening TB through X-rays.
“In the BMC project alone, we have crossed 90,000 scans in February, since we started the project in December 2020. The AI enabled chest X-ray solution is used as a TB surveillance tool and screen for TB among vulnerable populations of the city’’, Warier added.
The Mumbai-based firm, funded by marquee investors like Sequoia, Mass Mutual, Novo Holdings, MSD, Fractal Analytics, is expected to break even next year.
Besides the fact that the X-ray device can be deployed in the field, it reduces the time in “presumptive analysis’’, is simpler and cost-effective, due to the AI software”. Also, it reduces loss to follow up, the company claims.
Around Rs 40-50 lakh could be the one-time cost for a TB centre which invests in end-to-end TB screening solutions, Rawal said, adding the price is yet to be finalised.
Mylab has also launched diagnostic kits, Cy-Tb for latent TB, and those for detecting multi-drug resistance TB. The latter simultaneously detects multiple drug resistance to Rifampicin and Isoniazid in a single test.
“We want to serve the needs of the TB program with the most comprehensive portfolio of solutions for screening, detection and prevention”, he adds.


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