Officials at GE Healthcare (NYSE:GE) think the company’s new Thoracic Care Suite — a collection of eight AI algorithms from Lunit Insight CXR — could help clinicians in the fight against COVID-19.
The AI suite, launched today, quickly analyzes chest X-ray findings and flags abnormalities for radiologist review, according to GE. It can spot potential pneumonia — a symptom of COVID-19. It can also highlight tuberculosis, lung nodules, and other radiological findings.
“The launch of our Thoracic Care Suite is a part of GE Healthcare’s larger effort to help ensure clinicians and partners on the front lines have the equipment they need to quickly diagnose and effectively treat COVID-19 patients,” GE Healthcare CEO Kieran Murphy said in a news release.
“The pandemic has proven that data, analytics, AI and connectivity will only become more central to delivering care. For GE Healthcare, that means continuing to advance intelligent health and providing innovative technologies. This new offering is the latest example of how X-ray and AI can uphold the highest standard of patient care amidst the most modern of disease threats,” Murphy said.
Radiology through the Thoracic Care Suite can read a flagged report in picture archiving and communication systems (PACS). They can quickly find the abnormality score for each of the eight possible abnormalities, an image overlay and a written location description to help expedite diagnosis and treatment.
“Clinicians are looking for clinically proven methods to help identify symptoms early and determine which patients are at higher risk of complications and need to be actively monitored,” said Fergus Gleeson, professor of radiology at the University of Oxford and the 2020 President of the European Society of Thoracic Imaging. “AI can help identify these distinctions and enable hospital resources to be targeted to those that will need them whilst in hospital and following discharge.”
