AI plays vital role in anti-virus battle
A member of staff at the Shanghai Xuhui Cloud Hospital.
A wearable medical device to monitor body temperature and heart rate.
The COVID-19 outbreak has triggered the wide use of artificial intelligence-backed technologies, reducing the risk of cross-infection and increasing efficiency in containing the spread.
In hospitals, “contactless” initiatives are protecting medical staff from the infection.
TMiRob, a robot maker based in Shanghai’s Zhangjiang High-Tech Park, has sent robots to Wuhan, the hardest-hit city, to assist in prevention and control.
Disinfection robots with UV light, hydrogen peroxide and plasma air purifiers, can move freely around wards and disinfect every corner. Ward robots can measure body temperature, blood pressure and other vital signs of patients, and deliver medicine to their bedside.
Wearable 5G wireless devices are used to monitor the health of patients in a serious condition.
“Previously, nurses were required to measure the temperature of patients on a routine basis. But now it’s easy for them to monitor the health of 10 patients at any one time without having direct contact with them,” said Jia Zejun, a doctor at Zhongshan Hospital.
AI is playing a vital role in the fight against COVID-19, according to a paper written by Jia and Jiang Hong.
One sector, according to the paper, is drug discovery. Using an AI algorithm, researchers from the Shanghai Health Commission Key Lab of AI checked 125 Chinese herbal medicines and found 26 possible remedies
In addition, radiologists from Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center have developed a new smart image evaluation system, embedded with AI technologies and CT images, to help doctors make faster and more precise decisions. It has bringing relief to the overburdened public healthcare system.
Experts from Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health are also using neural networks and deep learning to forecast the peak times and future developments of the outbreak. Dynamic updated visualized epidemic maps revealing confirmed and suspected cases are produced using an AI algorithm.
Everything appears to be going online during the epidemic, and medical services are no exception.
To avoid human-to-human transmission, online consultations are the best option for patients with chronic diseases. Shanghai Xuhui Cloud Hospital, granted the city's first Internet hospital license for a public hospital, has built an online platform to provide healthcare services that include home consultations and pharmacy deliveries.
Outside of hospitals and medical institutes, the application of AI in the control and prevention of COVID-19 is common.
Across the country, AI-powered temperature measurement technology has been applied to scan crowds at railway and Metro stations. Smart robots with infrared line-scanning technology offer rapid temperature scans at highway exits, hospitals and airports.
In Shanghai, intelligent speech robots are employed to automatically call residents to screen suspected cases. Drones, equipped with cameras and thermal scanners, are flying over neighborhoods to scan car plates and measure people’s temperatures.
