Bharti Airtel and Apollo Hospitals on Thursday announced that they have carried out India’s first 5 G-driven, Artificial Intelligence (AI) guided Colonoscopy trial.
According to a press statement, the trial was conducted using AI on Airtel’s 5G technology as a result of which the colon cancer got detected much faster and with greater accuracy.
HealthNet Global, AWS, and Avesha are the other three companies that collaborated in this trial, the company announced.
“As a result of the AI-guided colonoscopy procedure, the image processing happened in real-time without any lag even when the physician moved the scope through the colon for it to be overlaid on top of the right element of the colon. The advent of this technology enables an “extra pair of eyes” for physicians and improves the detection rate of polyps, thus saving lives and vastly improving patient care. The data was processed by Avesha edge inferencing applications on AWS platforms in real-time resulting in much faster analysis,” the company announced on Thursday.
According to the hospital group, AI-assisted Colonoscopy Polyp Detection trials will help doctors to improve the quality of patient care, and improve the accuracy of detection rates by capturing information correctly and reducing errors.
5G, Edge computing, and Artificial Intelligence can significantly improve patient outcomes by assisting in proper and timely diagnoses, it stated.
Currently, a colonoscopy procedure is conducted to detect colon cancer. The procedure is manual and requires great attention and time from medical practitioners for accurate detection.
The procedure is performed using a device comprising of a flexible tube with a light, camera, and tools at one end, which is used to extract samples to identify an infected polyp.
Not only is the procedure long, its discomforting for patients and for the doctors and nurses who perform the procedure which takes around 30 to 40 minutes, as per doctors.
“Ultra-fast, low latency 5G networks will transform the Healthcare sector in the country. At Airtel, we are geared up to lead this transformation and have demonstrated this by conducting India’s first colonoscopy trials. Healthcare is one of the most promising use cases for 5G, and we are delighted to collaborate with Apollo Hospitals, AWS, HealthNet Global, and Avesha. This is just the beginning, and I am certain we will bring many more innovative use cases that will help redefine healthcare in the country,” Ajay Chitkara, CEO and Director, Airtel Business said in a statement.
Colonoscopy procedures for early detection and prevention of cancers are being advised for all men and women above 45 years of age.
“By augmenting doctor’s ability to detect, AI has been proven to improve physician’s accuracy. Early detection and removal of polyps can easily avoid them from becoming cancerous. Apollo has always been a forerunner in the adoption of technology. Our patient-centric approach keeps us on an outlook for technologies that can make outcomes better.” said Dr. Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group in a statement on Thursday.
