Pakistan has developed a software-based on artificial intelligence that can help detect COVID-19 inside a minute.
The revelation was made on Science Diplomacy Pakistan, a web page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that serves as a platform to increase its contribution to the global scientific landscape.
By drawing attention to the advances that Pakistani scientists make, the information helps foster links for international scientific cooperation.
‘COV-RAID’ has an accuracy of more than 90% and is a cost-effective and universally accessible diagnostic tool,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a tweet.
Science Diplomacy Pakistan congratulated the National Electronics Complex of Pakistan (NEC) and the country’s scientists on the achievement.
Pakistan, it says, is ready to explore collaborations and partnerships to share this technology with the world.
The breakthrough has heartened the country’s scientific community, which continues to find local solutions to problems despite the paucity of resources and opportunity.
The Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) had done a trial test of detecting coronavirus with chest X-rays using artificial intelligence, the National Command and Operating Centre said.
The PEC will share the results of the trials.
According to the COV-RAID website, a data repository of chest X-rays has been built to fine-tune the diagnostic software’s ability to identify coronavirus symptoms in patients,
Using this approach, the software can utilize a chest X-ray image of a patient to detect whether the person has the virus or not by comparing it to the reference images it has in its data repository.
On its website, COV-RAID says AI software has been developed by creating a data repository of Chest X Rays (CXR) for Covid-19 or non-Covid-19 detection.
The COV-RAID requires a chest X-Ray image as an input for the detection of Covid-19 positive or negative patients in less than one minute, it says.
“COVRAID also highlights it’s finding in the lungs through an AI approach by using heatmaps (Gallery Images). The algorithm has been trained on more than 35,000 CXRs (data authentication done through multiple certified radiologists and PCR reports). This technology in the current pandemic (COVID-19) can be a path-breaking to conduct screening of a large number of patients in a limited time.”
Meanwhile, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of Pakistan’s federal Cabinet has approved a grant of $150 million for the purchase of Covid-19 vaccine.
The ECC recently evaluated a proposal submitted by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination and approved, in principle, the provision of a technical supplementary grant of $150 million for the purchase of Covid vaccine.
The amount of vaccine will suffice for the most vulnerable 5pc of the population — health workers and people aged above 65 years. Besides, around 10 million people would be provided with vaccine cover under the above arrangement
