In a fight against the Novel coronavirus, researchers have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) platform that detects Covid-19 by analyzing X-ray images of the lungs. Called DeepCOVID-XR, the machine-learning algorithm outperformed a team of specialized thoracic radiologists spotting Covid-19 in X-rays about 10 times faster and more accurate.
An inexpensive way to find Covid
Author Aggelos Katsaggelos from Northwestern University in the US, says faster, earlier detection of the highly contagious virus could potentially protect health care workers and other patients by triggering the positive patient to isolate sooner. The study's authors also believe the algorithm could potentially flag patients for isolation and testing who are not otherwise under investigation for Covid-19. "We are not aiming to replace actual testing. X-rays are routine, safe, and inexpensive. It would take seconds for our system to screen a patient and determine if that patient needs to be isolated.
Team undergoing the experiments
To develop, train, and test the new algorithm, the researchers used 17,002 chest X-ray images. The largest published clinical dataset of chest X-rays from the Covid-19 era used to train an AI system. Of those images, 5,445 came from Covid-19-positive patients from sites across the Northwestern Memorial Healthcare System. The team then tested DeepCOVID-XR against five experienced cardiothoracic fellowship-trained radiologists on 300 random test images from Lake Forest Hospital.
82percent accuracy in DeepCOVID-XR
Each radiologist took approximately two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half hours to examine this set of images, whereas the AI system took about 18 minutes. The radiologists' accuracy ranged from 76-81 percent. DeepCOVID-XR performed slightly better at 82 percent accuracy. Katsaggelos added Radiologists are expensive and not always available. But X-rays are inexpensive and already a common element of routine care. This could potentially save money and time, especially because timing is so critical when working with Covid-19.
