Posted 4/11/2024, 6:00:09 PM
AI Tool Detects Parasitic Worms in Minutes, Could Expand Access to Diagnosis
- AI can accurately detect parasitic worm eggs in stool samples, sometimes even catching infections missed by human experts
- 1.5 billion people worldwide carry parasitic worm infections that can cause malnutrition, anemia, stunted development
- AI analysis takes only 5 minutes (vs 20-35 minutes currently) so could enable wider access to diagnosis with 5G networks
- AI had high sensitivity of 76-96% and specificity of 98-99% in spotting 3 key worm infections
- Ethical considerations around informed consent and data privacy need to be addressed before deploying the AI technique more widely