BCM to begin detecting covid-19 using voice sample through Artificial intelligence

[poornima lagadapati]

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) from Wednesday (August 26), onward will begin the screening of suspected coronavirus patients through artificial intelligence (AI).

According to a report published in the Hindustan Times (https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumb...m-wednesday/story-Rqp5v3ezrwBBcbstjJng7J.html) a memorandum of understanding has been signed between the BMC and an Israel-based startup company, Vocalis Health. This is the first-of-its-kind initiative in the city.
Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner, BMC said, “We signed the MOU on Saturday and the study will start from Wednesday under the supervision of Dr RN Cooper Municipal General Hospital.”

The device by the startup is being used by people to collect voice samples of people across the world. The main aim of the said device is to make a diagnostic tool to identify those who are infected by the novel coronavirus.

 

[Himanshi Agarwal]

By the next week, the civic body will commence the non-invasive voice analysis of suspected and confirmed Covid-19 patients at the NESCO jumbo Covid-19 centre in Goregaon. The results of the analysis can indicate the presence of the virus in 30 seconds, and those testing positive, will undergo a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) swab test to confirm if they are infected.

Using artificial intelligence, Dr RN Cooper Municipal General Hospital, which is run by the civic body, will conduct the study on 2,000 patients at the centre.

RT-PCR is considered the gold standard test for diagnosing Sars-Cov-2 – the virus that causes Covid-19 – but the result through this testing method takes more than eight hours. In contrast, a rapid antigen test can give results within 30 minutes, but this method can give a higher rate of false negatives according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).