Getting COVID-19 Results, Quickly…
More than four months have passed since the lockdown rules were implemented, though you may have applied a litre of hand sanitizer or gone through an uncountable number of face masks by now, we just want to be safe. And knowing if we have the disease can potentially save the lives of our friends and family. Let's look at the AI that helps us combat COVID-19.
Normally, COVID-19 tests work by having a medical specialist take a swab at the back of your throat or nose with a long cotton bud. After this, the sample is then checked for the disease by professionals. The time for getting the results may vary, but the average time is about two days. However, researchers and experts at the University of Oxford have used AI to reduce the waiting time dramatically, and all it takes is one hour.
The lead researcher, Dr Soltan and his team have created an AI-based model called CURIAL AI. The AI tool could accurately predict 92% of the time a person's COVID-19 status. Though your definition of accurate maybe different. The usual test is about 70% correct and I would say that a 22% increase is a pretty good improvement.
“ When we tested the Curial AI on data for all patients coming to OUH’s emergency departments in the last week of April and the first week of May, it correctly predicted patients’ COVID status more than 90 per cent of the time.”
And just like all AI models, CURIAL AI was trained by lots of data. It consisted of 115,394 emergency presentations and 72,310 admissions, which were available during the first hour of testing. Then the model was used in an actual hospital environment.
What an average COVID-19 test looks like. Credit: Google
“The Curial AI is optimised to quickly give negative results with high confidence, safely excluding COVID-19 at the front door and maintaining flow through the hospital.”
Dr Soltan also hopes that the AI tool will be used more widely in clinical workflow and that it can smooth out the rush to get samples tested in the NHS. And as a result, the AI tool will make the testing process a lot more efficient. One limitation to the whole process is that a person could get tested negative, but then catch the disease shortly after, even during the drive back from the clinic. But that isn't the AI's fault. The AI is only providing your status of COVID-19 for a very short period, it can't predict the future. This further emphasises the importance of regularly being tested if you're feeling symptomatic, or have a job that means you travel or are in public quite often.
On that note, I hope all readers remain safe!
Thumbnail Credit: google.co.uk
Sources:
https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/science-blog/new-ai-test-identifies-covid-19-within-one-hour-emergency-departments
https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/news/uk/new-ai-test-can-identify-covid-19-within-one-hour/
https://www.irishnews.com/magazine/technology/2020/07/31/news/new-ai-test-can-identify-covid-19-within-one-hour--2022613/