Delft Imaging and sister company Thirona have launched CAD4COVID, a free-of-charge artificial intelligence (AI) tool that analyses X-ray images, to help manage the Covid-19 crisis.

CAD4COVID builds on Delft’s existing CAD4TB system which uses AI to screen for tuberculosis via X-ray images. It is designed to help clinicians triage Covid-19 cases and indicate where lung tissue is being affected. This is particularly useful in resource-limited settings where access to reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests or computed tomography (CT) scans may be limited, and X-ray is used as first-line triage before further testing.

Delft Imaging and Thirona CEO Guido Geerts said: “Our breadth of experience in such settings has made us very concerned about the implications that Covid-19 can have on countries where healthcare infrastructure is already under pressure.

“We wanted to leverage our expertise and experience in artificial intelligence to support the fight against COVID-19. That is also why we decided to make CAD4COVID available free-of-charge; in order to end this pandemic, we need to have a big impact, quickly.”