Thailand’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Society and one of China’s biggest technology giant recently announced plans to provide Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions and 5G technology to Siriraj Public Hospital in the fight against COVID-19.
The AI technology can help doctors analyse computed tomography (CT) quantification results of infection cases with high accuracy, according to the Dean at the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital from Mahidol University.
It can greatly help reduce the workload of Thai medical personnel working with patients contracted with COVID-19.
The 5G network can assist COVID-19 treatment hospitals to relieve network congestion and guarantee the quality of medical care service, the CEO of the tech firm’s Thailand stated.
The AI-assisted solution, based on the firm’s cloud technology, was co-developed by the firm and HY Medical, a Chinese enterprise that focuses on AI medical industry, using medical imaging through artificial intelligence.
The AI technology leverages the computer vision and medical image analysis to segment multiple pulmonary ground-glass opacities (GGOs) and lung consolidation and makes quantitative evaluations through CTs of patients’ lungs.
At least 20 hospitals in China have adopted the technology to handle COVID-19 cases.
Thailand’s Digital Economy and Society stated at a press conference that the Thai government have always attached great importance in enhancing the performance of Thai medical staff by implementing integrated digital technologies using 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), big data and cloud computing.
Thailand has so far reported 30 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number to 2,643 with two new deaths, bringing the death toll to 43.
Tech deployed to help fight COVID-19
OpenGov Asia earlier reported that Mor Chana, a mobile app, has been launched in Thailand. The mobile app is the outcome of the collaboration between multiple private and state organisations.
It serves as a tool to help people assess their coronavirus infection risk, assist health authorities in tracking users in close contact with infected people and prevent transmission among healthcare workers.
Anuchit Anuchitanukul, from the app development team, said, “It took two weeks to develop the app with collaboration from volunteers, citizens and the private and public sectors, all who wish to support physicians and medical teams who serve as the front-line warriors in the fight against COVID-19.”
The app aids in identifying individuals who could have been exposed to virus patients using GPS and Bluetooth technology to track their location.
With the app, health authorities would be able to identify individuals who have been in close contact with infected people.
This could also help prevent medical practitioners from contracting the disease.
The Department of Disease Control (DDC) will use artificial intelligence (AI) systems to analyse data collected from the app to aid in epidemiological studies.
Data from the app will be processed by the DDC iLAB analytic platform, which combines epidemiology analysis and AI technology to identify users who may be in proximity to infected people, said Sutthipong Phanthanalai, who developed DDC iLAB.
The app is also useful to the population large. General app users who are not medical professionals can use the app to locate the risk areas and adjust their travel plans accordingly.
“This contact tracing approach will play a significant role in containing the spread of COVID-19,” Digital Economy and Society Minister, Buddhipongse Punnakanta, said. “It needs citizens to contribute to society by downloading it to help stop the viral spread and mitigate wider social and economic impacts.”
