India-Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre and its knowledge partner AstraZeneca India collaborated with the Directorate of Health Services (DHS) Jammu to integrate Qure.ai’s smart artificial intelligence technology to detect lung cancer early on, the organisations said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

Under the aegis of Indo Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre (ISHIC), Qure.ai is scaling-up the integration of its AI-powered chest x-ray interpretation tool that can benefit early and easy detection of lung diseases including lung cancer. The collaboration with DHS Jammu is a significant example of how technology can be leveraged and simply integrated in the primary healthcare settings, the statement said.

Cecilia Oskarsson, Swedish Trade Commissioner to India said, “We are delighted to initiate this first project in Jammu towards early screening and diagnosis of lung diseases in the state. We look forward to supporting the start-up ecosystem and the states towards building an innovative ecosystem in the country.”

Sanjeev Panchal, Country President and Managing Director, AstraZeneca India said, “We celebrate the progress that has been made in cancer care, including advances in screening, the development of innovative therapies, greater public-private collaboration and increased prioritisation of health equity. As a global cancer community, we have many reasons to be optimistic about the future. We are moving ever closer to achieving our ambition – eliminating cancer as a cause of death.”

The AI-powered chest X-ray is designed to distinguish lung nodules in under a minute and minimise the chances of lung cancers going undetected. Importantly, this tool is being accessed in primary care setting where x-rays are utilised most commonly, the statement added.

Commenting on the technological advantage of the solution, Prashant Warier, CEO Qure.ai said, “Our machine-based learning tools are enhancing the analysis of simpler diagnosis tools such as x-rays, ultrasounds to catch serious diseases at very early stages that significantly reduces the mortality rates. AstraZeneca has helped us spread our offering across the world that has led to approximately 170,000 scans in 25 countries, with high malignancy risk lung nodules identified in 1.6 per cent of scans.”