Health care goes high-tech

‘SMART’ TOOLS Advanced Abilities introduces Absol, AI Smart Scan and RevDx. These AI-enabled devices aim to enhance early detection and overall patient care.
—CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Health-care facilities can now test more patients and deliver more results with artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled devices pioneered in the Philippines by Advanced Abilities (AAS), an all-Filipino technology company and independent solutions aggregator.

Its health arm, Smart Health Solutions, aims to enhance early detection and overall patient care.

“We have been working on this device alongside medical experts for the last couple of years, which is why today, we’re very proud to introduce our Smart Health Solutions, led by AI Smart Scan, a portable AI-driven X-ray system capable of detecting diseases at record speed, and serve more patients within a shorter turnaround time,” AAS president and CEO Angelo Antonio Buendia says.

The AI Smart Scan can identify 32 pathologies and conditions including tuberculosis, processing up to 200 scans within eight hours.

“[When] the clinic has too much people coming in … it basically helps the radiology workflow because you get to test more patients and you get to deliver more results,” AAS chief marketing officer Zoe Buendia says in an interview.

Its software, Augmento PACS, was developed by AAS partner DeepTek, a medical imaging AI company in India.

This solution is already being used in Chennai City, India, where 500 in every 100,000 patients are getting a diagnosis, demonstrating a 25 times increased yield of detecting tuberculosis. The latest product lineup also includes portable devices: Absol and RevDX.

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Absol represents an advanced testing immunodiagnosis, serving as a point-of-care rapid test kit for efficient blood tests covering cardiac, thyroid, metabolic and inflammatory diagnoses.

RevDX is a device for complete blood count testing, delivering rapid results with a single prick and ensuring accurate results within 5 to 30 minutes.

Sensitivity and specificity rate

In 2022, the World Health Organization estimated that around 8 million people globally develop active tuberculosis annually, leading to nearly 2 million deaths from the disease.

DeepTek cofounder Ajit Patil emphasizes the significance of tuberculosis screening using the “Genki” solution, an AI-powered lung health screening solution that can be operated on a laptop with 90 percent specificity and sensitivity.

“It is a simple solution, it works on a laptop and it connects with any X-ray machine … As soon as you take the scan within 20 to 40 seconds, you will come to know if you have any issue on the scan,” Patil explains during the media launch.Philippine Medical Association president Maria Minerva Calimag elaborates on how AI enhances detection accuracy, noting that after screening, confirmatory tests are conducted.

“We’ve seen how artificial intelligence actually improves the accuracy of detecting. When we say that a technology or a diagnostic tool has high sensitivity, [it means] that it can be used for screening. With a high sensitivity of about 90 plus percent, we’re able to screen. After the screening, then we do the confirmatory tests.”

As AAS aims to serve both private and public sectors, Smart Health Solutions products are now available in the market, already partnering with the health maintenance organization Maxicare.

“To ensure that the spread of TB is arrested, the key is early detection and treatment. This is where Advanced Abilities, through our Smart Health Solutions’ AI SmartScan, can make an impact,” AA says.