Bengaluru-based innovation hub AI & Robotics technology park (ARTPARK), in collaboration with health tech startup Niramai and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), has launched XraySetu, an AI-driven solution for the early intervention of COVID-19 cases across India. The free-to-use platform extends an equitable AI technology to rural Indian doctors for doing a quick chest X-ray interpretation over a whatsapp chatbot.

The platform can also ably detect 14 additional lung-related ailments including tuberculosis and pneumonia alongside others. XraySetu can further be used for both analogues as well as digital X-rays and work with low-resolution images sent via mobiles. XraySetu has successfully piloted more than 300 doctors in rural areas over the last 10 months. 

Umakant Soni, Founder and CEO, ARTPARK, said, “XraySetu paves the way for exponential technologies like AI to leapfrog and provide cutting-edge healthcare technology to rural India in an extremely cost-effective manner. Built with the collaboration of industry and academia, XraySetu can serve as a great template for bringing such technology-driven innovations to the heartlands of India.”

“XraySetu provides an automated interpretation of chest X-rays to predict if a patient has any lung abnormality that indicates COVID-19 infection. This service is provided over a simple messaging platform like WhatsApp with an input of a simple photo of the X-Ray image,” Dr Geetha Manjunath, Founder and CEO, Niramai.