VIJAYAWADA: Medical and Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav said the coalition government has introduced major changes in medical services with the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). He said 18 innovators are engaged in screening and confirmation tests in 18 selected government hospitals using around 40 devices on a pilot basis.
The Minister said these technologies help doctors diagnose diseases quickly and enable them to provide better treatment to patients.
Under the pilot project, various tests are being conducted at Visakhapatnam, Anantapur, Guntur, Kakinada GGH, Vijayawada Government Medical College, Parvathipuram, Tenali District Hospital and several other locations.
AI-based services are being used in hospitals for multiple purposes, including recording conversations between patients and doctors, detecting tuberculosis through cough analysis, identifying heart diseases and anaemia, cervical cancer screening using AI cameras and detecting neurological disorders in children. Advanced technological devices are also being used for diagnosing cataract, glaucoma, sickle cell anaemia and other conditions. In addition, sophisticated software is being used wherever required.
Conversations between doctors and patients in hospitals are being recorded on laptops using tiny microphones. Within seconds after the consultation ends, the system generates a summary containing key information, the doctor’s opinion and the prescribed medicines.
These tests have commenced in government hospitals on a pilot basis and will conclude soon. A report on the results will be submitted to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, the Minister said.
He added that further steps will be taken in accordance with the Chief Minister’s directions. Stating that AI-based services will help quality healthcare reach a larger number of people within a short time, the Minister said these services will also be linked with ABHA ID, allowing patient data to be digitised. In line with the Chief Minister’s vision and with the cooperation of the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub, Health Department Secretary Saurabh Gaur initiated further steps following the directions of Minister Satya Kumar Yadav.
The Health Department invited applications from innovators across the country. A special committee called CATH (Committee for Applied Technologies in Health) was constituted to review and recommend the proposals. The committee includes experts such as Dr V Ramanathan (Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru), Dr Mona Duggal (ICMR Director), Dr Suhel Kapoor (AI expert, ICMR), Dr Shivakumar (Founder, Swasti NGO), Dr Rakesh Kalpala (AIG Hospitals, Hyderabad), Sangeet Kumar (MedTech expert) and Sarvesh Singh (Managing Director, Marichi Ventures).
The government received 297 applications. The CATH committee evaluated them in three stages and finally recommended 18 applications to the government.
Commissioner (Health and Family Welfare) G Veerapandian said the CATH committee will soon analyse the results achieved so far by the companies providing medical services in hospitals under the pilot project. Cervical cancer detection is being carried out at Guntur GGH. The same facility is also using devices to diagnose cataract and diabetic neuropathy.
At Vijayawada GGH, RT-PCR devices are being used to confirm tuberculosis, while tests for anaemia and leukaemia are conducted using blood slides.
