The International Institute of Information Technology-Hyderabad (IIIT-H) is working withGrace Cancer FoundationandBioCon Foundationto identify early stages of cancer with thehelp of a cellphone.
With the help of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm,thecellphone can take oral cavity images and indicate whether they are malignant or benign.
“A project like this needed funding, so iHub-Data stepped in to help us develop a solution for oral cancer screening,” said Vinod. P.K, who is leading the cancer initiative at iHub-Data. It is a technology innovation hub established under theNational Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems (NM-ICPS)in the area of data-driven technologies at the institute.
One of the first initiatives In the healthcare domain is centered around image-based early screening and diagnosis of cancer, according to an online publication. The first phase of the project was data collection by Grace Foundation with the help of a mobileapp developed with the assistance of Product Labs, the engineering arm ofIIITH’sTechnology Transfer Office.
“The mobile app has been tested successfully for oral cancer screening. It can also be used in multiple other public health projects. Apart from recording images of oral cavities, patient details and reports can be be maintained on it,” explained Dr. Vinod.
The BioCon collaboration came about since asimilar initiative of a tech-based mobile early detection and prevention of oral cancer was being done by it at Bengaluru.“They shared their data and initial AI model developed by theIndian Institute of Science. We aimto improve the model’s predictive performance for usage in a field setting,” he said.
“Our model would take into consideration lifestyle, family medical history, vitals and blood tests, clinical examination,etc., to improve the predictive capability of the AI algorithm,” said iHub Data healthcare head Bapi Raju.
Data collection for the project began in November last year.
“Oral cancers have favourable outcomes if they are detected early and treated. Hence, the current effort is on early screening and developing a mobile solution for screening camps in rural settings. The aim is to take the solution to the field and not wait for patients to show up in the secondary and tertiary centres when it might be too late,” added Mr. Bapi.
