New Delhi: Bharti Airtel Y Apollo Hospitals announced that they have conducted the first colonoscopy tests of its kind in India, which were conducted using AI at Airtel’s 5G technology, and resulted in the detection of colon cancer much faster and more accurately. HealthNetGlobal, AWS Y avesha were the other three companies that collaborated in these trials.
Currently, colon cancer is detected through a manual colonoscopy procedure that requires great care and time on the part of doctors for accurate detection. The procedure is not only long, 30 to 40 minutes per case, but it is also uncomfortable for the patients and for the doctors and nurses who have to perform the procedure.
The AI-guided colonoscopy procedure showed real-time image processing without delays, even when the physician moved the endoscope to overlap the correct element of the colon. The advent of this technology will allow an extra pair of eyes for doctors and improve the detection rate of polyps. The data was processed in real time by Avesha’s edge inference applications on AWS (Amazon Web Services India P Ltd) platforms. AI-assisted colonoscopy polyp detection trials will help clinicians improve the quality of patient care, improve the accuracy of detection rates by capturing information correctly, and reduce errors.
Speaking about the trial, Ajay Chitkara, CEO and Director of Airtel Business, said: “Ultra-fast, low-latency 5G networks will transform the healthcare sector in the country. At Airtel, we are poised to lead this transformation and have demonstrated this by conducting the first colonoscopy trials in India. Healthcare is one of the most promising use cases for 5G and we are excited to collaborate with Apollo Hospitals, AWS, HealthNet Global and Avesha.”
Dr. Sangita Reddy, Joint CEO of Apollo Hospitals Group, commented: “By increasing the detectability of physicians, AI has been shown to improve physician accuracy. Early detection and removal of polyps can easily prevent them from becoming cancerous. Apollo has always been a forerunner in technology adoption. Our patient-centric approach keeps us on the lookout for technologies that can improve outcomes.”
Echoing Chitkara and Dr. Reddy’s appreciation of 5G and AI as viable tools to advance healthcare, Vaishali Kasture, Head-Enterprise, Mid-Market & Global Businesses, India & South Asia, AWS India concluded: “5G and edge technologies offer high-speed, real-time data analytics that can help transform healthcare delivery. AI inference provides better understanding and information to healthcare professionals to more effectively predict, diagnose and treat patients.”
