Researchers from INiBICA, in collaboration with the company E Process Med, are leading an artificial intelligence project to accelerate the current COVID-19 screening strategy.

The clinical project, which recruits subjects at the Puerta del Mar and Puerto Real hospitals, has received more than €170,000 in funding from the Regional Ministry of Health and Families of the Regional Government of Andalusia, as part of the competitive call for Projects in health, in the form of public-private partnerships.

The University Hospitals of Puerto Real Puerta del Mar in Cádiz leading an artificial intelligence project that aims to speed up the screening process for patients suspected of having SARS-CoV-2 infection. This research and innovation project, entitled D&SAI, has also been awarded one of six competitive grants funded under a public-private partnership.

The study is co-led by Dr. Alberto Romero Palacios (Head of the Infectious Diseases Section at Puerto Real University Hospital) and Dr. José Antonio Girón González (Head of Internal Medicine at Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar), both researchers belonging to the Cádiz Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation Cádiz INiBICA), in collaboration with the company E-PROCESS-MED S.L. This collaboration aims to implement an innovative diagnostic method to improve the current strategy for identifying Covid-19-negative patients in the healthcare setting.

The project consists of a prospective multicenter clinical study in which selected subjects will undergo the necessary tests to confirm the proposed hypothesis, which aims to equate the effectiveness of a negative PCR test result with that obtained through an antigen test together with the company's technological tool, D&S-COVID. This tool uses a predictive algorithm developed using artificial intelligence, based on medical history and epidemiological questionnaires, which currently allows COVID-19 patients to be detected with high sensitivity, although low specificity.

If the comparability of both strategies is demonstrated, the results of the project will be a significant aid in the management of patients with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection. Thus, the possibility of ruling out active infection without having to wait for the results of a PCR test (which takes at least 3-4 hours in the best-case scenario) will reduce the time needed for diagnosis, as well as the cost of materials and healthcare resources (both financial and human) used to diagnose COVID-19, which would undoubtedly have a positive impact on the development of the current pandemic.

🔗 Más información: Diario de Cádiz