DRDO develops AI based software to detect COVID in chest X-rays

DRDO has developed an artificial intelligence based intelligent software that helps in Covid detection. The software, named ATMAN, uses Chest X-rays and classifies those into normal, Covid19, pneumonia classes with the help of sample images that are limited in number (a few hundreds).

DRDO's Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics has developed the software which DRDO also claims is secure and web-based. ATMAN's backend is that of Deep Convolution Neural Network. It detects Covid19 irrespective of limited availability of Covid X-ray images that the system can learn from. The DRDO website explains the process and states: The software then automatically pre-processes the images before passing them to the neural net to assess variant illuminations levels of the X-ray images. The software is easy to navigate and can be accessed through Internet on multiple devices.

Also, ATMAN has been tested by doctors from HCG Centre for Academics and research, Bengaluru and Ankh Life Care helped by providing data and relevant domain medical knowledge.

Last year, HCG along with Wipro developed Covigilent. The tool was an advanced AI powered cough analysis mechanism for Covid19. It captures signals from cough and notice changes that are specific to Covid19 patients. Several indicators like age, gender, and other health-related data, along with audio, is uploaded on to the cloud server wherein the AI will come into picture to process and analyse the data. The algorithm analyses audio signatures specific tot he infected patients.