In the fight against COVID-19, it has been reported that there is no authentic way of
identifying coronavirus without taking a blood sample. This is due to the fact that a
large segment of virus carriers do not show any symptoms which makes this method
void. In an effort to counteract this, two Pakistani students have developed a device that
can diagnose coronavirus within 20 seconds.
These 2 students are Mohammad Aleem and Rahul Raj who study at Gulam Ishaq
Khan Institute (GIK) who have created this device to diagnose coronavirus in a
patient through the use of Artificial Intelligence. According to the students, the main
reason for the start of this initiative was that they noticed how the shortage of testing
kits and long waiting time after the test was done was far too time consuming in this
state of the world and in the case of the patient as well. Hence, they launched this
device as a motivation to solve this issue and technology amidst the increasing
coronavirus cases in the country. A quick diagnosis would allow doctors to initiate the
isolation and treatment process of a COVID-19 patient instantly, which will benefit all
parties and reduce the risk of cross-infection as well.
The device uses AI that analyzes computed tomography (CT) scan of lungs to detect
COVID-19. The device can perform analysis on CT scans and tell whether a patient
has been infected with coronavirus in a time period of 20 seconds with 92% accuracy.
Hence, this process increases the efficiency of the doctors and identifies the location
and severity of the virus as well. As a CT scan nowadays costs between Rs. 5,000 to
10,000 in Pakistan, its high cost is the main hurdle in the mass production of this AI device.
Moreover, with an increased use of data, the AI-based machine processes
become more expensive, yet more accurate. These students have also requested the
government to provide them funding and resources to ensure the mass-production can
take the place of this idea.
