Set to be used in key districts by early Dec
Irfan Tramboo
Srinagar, Nov 22: Authorities in Kashmir have initiated the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven interventions, which will not only be used for detecting Tuberculosis (TB) but also for predicting the risk of adverse outcomes.
According to officials overseeing the introduction of these interventions, these tools will be implemented in districts such as Anantnag, Pulwama, and Budgam where the TB scenario has witnessed improvement.
Details reveal that two AI-driven interventions, including ‘Cough Against Tuberculosis’ and ‘Loss to Follow Up’ (LFU), have been introduced, and the concerned staff has undergone the necessary training.
Officials explained that the ‘Cough Against TB’ application is an AI-driven solution available through a mobile-based application compatible with Android devices.
It will capture symptoms, duration, and cough recordings to infer whether the individual assessed is likely to have pulmonary TB, they said.
Regarding LFU, officials stated that it will predict the risk of adverse outcomes at the initiation of treatment and will ensure that patients triaged as “high-risk” can be prioritized by the NTEP, providing appropriate intensified support, regular counseling, and monitoring treatment progress.
“It will help improve their outcomes and contribute to saving more lives from adverse TB outcomes, ultimately reducing the burden of such outcomes.”
On the other hand, the LFU AI model, officials noted, has been trained on the Nikshay database of 86 lakh TB patients in 2019-2022, provided by the Central TB Division (CTD), and has been trained and validated sequentially using datasets to assess accuracy in predicting patient risk status.
“The CTD has considered the findings of the passive evaluations promising,” the officials said.
While the Secretary, Health & Medical Education (H&ME) Bhupinder Kumar has been taking immense interest in bringing in the AI-intervention to make the screening of TB robust in J&K, Director Health Services, Kashmir Dr. Mushtaq Ahmad Rather has also played a key role in rolling out these initiatives for better outcomes and aiding the concerned staff.
State TB Officer Kashmir, Dr. Adhfar Yaseen told Excelsior that these initiatives, while being cost-effective, will end up saving time apart from enhancing the diagnostic part of the disease. “NTEP staff has been trained for using AI interventions, and by the start of December, we will start using them in the field,” she said.
Regarding ‘Cough Against TB,’ the officials stated that the AI model used in smartphones is trained on 15,000 solicited cough sounds and symptomatic data collected from NTEP healthcare facilities across India.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
