Bering, iCaird & NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde
Implementation of AI Technology in COVID-19 Diagnostics
Published 10 MAY 2021
Adapting AI-powered Image Recognition for COVID-19 Diagnosis
Bering has developed an AI algorithm to identify common signs in chest X-ray images, indicating numerous medical diagnoses. This has been rolled out in Scotland via a number of collaborative partners including iCAIRD and NHS GCC, allowing radiologists to free up their time to focus on rarer abnormal cases within the 40 million images they see each year. This technology was adapted to look at chest X-rays to identify trends that may predict COVID-19 cases, that could then be confirmed by PCR testing.
Bering
Bering was founded in 2010 with the aim to use Artificial Intelligence to answer important questions in biology and medicine. Our team brings together clinicians, engineers, visual design experts, psychologists, and data scientists. With over 150 peer-reviewed publications in the field of medical informatics, we work hard to deliver Artificial Intelligence to areas where it is needed the most.
iCAIRD
The Industrial Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research in Digital Diagnostics (iCAIRD) was launched in 2018. It brings together a pan-Scotland collaboration of 15 partners from across industry, the NHS, and academia; including four current actively engaged SMEs. Industry leadership is provided by Canon Medical Research Europe (radiology) and Royal Philips (digital pathology).
NHS Great Glasgow & Clyde
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) is responsible for the provision and management of the whole range of health services in this area including hospitals and General Practice, NHSGGC works alongside partnership organisations including Local Authorities and the voluntary sector. NHSGGC serves a population of 1.14 million and employs around 39,000 staff β it is the largest NHS organisation in Scotland and one of the largest in the UK.
Video Case Study
An in-depth interview discussing the project, its background, evolution and results with Ignat Drozdov - Managing Director, Bering; David Lowe - National Clinical Director of Scottish Innovation and Health Partnership; and Mark Hall - Consultant Radiologist - NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
The Scan Partnership
In April 2020, Bering were on a multi-partner call in the very early days of the project - the call was also attended by the Scan CEO, Elan Raja, who expressed an interest in helping to take this research forward. Within a number of weeks a collaboration had been finalised and Scan AI was engaging with Bering to provide access to an NVIDIA DGX AI appliance to help process the huge volume of X-ray data the team had. Scan also enabled collaboration with the NVIDIA AI team in order to add value and support as the project evolved.
βIt was the first time we had worked with Scan, but it felt like we had been collaborating for years. It was that efficient.β
Ignat Drozdov - Managing Director, Bering
