Faster covid results

Technology could be set to revolutionise diagnosis of Covid-19 in hospital emergency departments.

Artificial intelligence could speed up the process.

It comes after a new algorithm was developed as part of a programme by medical technology specialists at Bering Limited, in conjunction with researchers from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

The move, it is hoped, will allow chest X-ray images from patients displaying shortness of breath to be analysed and a result delivered in less than three minutes.

It dramatically speeds up the time from the average two-hour wait in hospitals for results from current PCR testing methods.

Professor David Lowe, consultant at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, said: “This is yet another welcome development demonstrating the potential for AI to support clinicians ensuring patients are getting the highest quality and most relevant treatment.

“Through testing we have been able to see that this algorithm can identify Covid-19 on chest X-rays that are routinely taken during initial clinical assessment.

“This will not just help with the treatment of patients, but speeds up the process of isolating infected patients to ensure the spread is reduced.”

The BraveCX-Covlx algorithm has been tested in more than 3,000 X-rays across four of the NHS board’s sites - where it has been proven to be able to differentiate between normal, abnormal, pneumonia and Covid-19 onset pneumonia.

NHSGGC will continue to trial the technology in a bid to establish whether it can be used to predict other chest illnesses, such as lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.