Mumbai has been struggling with tuberculosis for years. Early detection and prompt treatment are key in battling this disease, and artificial intelligence (AI) has helped improve TB detection in Mumbai over the past two years.
As part of a pilot research project, over 1 lakh persons had TB X-ray scans aided by AI in 2021 and 2022 at nine Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)-run hospitals in Mumbai. The study was conducted in collaboration with qure.ai, a digital health startup business.
The AI-based program alerts users to chest X-ray scans that might resemble TB patches after analyzing millions of TB chest X-ray reports.
The use of AI-supported X-ray scans has proved very helpful for making an early diagnosis, even when the patient may only have minor symptoms. In fact, 35% of confirmed TB cases were detected incidentally, meaning they were part of a non-TB group of patients who had X-ray scans analysed by AI software. Over 40% of TB patients initially exhibit no symptoms, so early detection is critical in treating the disease.
In 2022, the AI-supported X-ray scanners screened 57,781 patients, identifying 10,225 of them as possibly having TB. Of the 10,225 suspected TB patients, 9,702 were requested to come back so that sputum could be collected to help with the diagnosis. Unfortunately, only 2,376 people showed up for sputum collection, and 704 of these had a TB diagnosis that was later confirmed. Despite this setback, the BMC recorded the highest annual detection of TB cases to date in 2022–2023 with over 65,000 cases.
More than 28% of the world's TB cases and more than 26% of all cases of multi-drug resistant TB are found in India. As World Tuberculosis Day approaches, celebrated on March 24 every year, the World Health Organization (WHO) and civil society organizations urge nations to update treatment recommendations for drug-resistant TB. The WHO released guidelines in December 2022 for implementing a safer and condensed treatment plan for those with drug-resistant tuberculosis.
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