Facebook claims its AI can predict four if a coronavirus patient’s condition will deteriorate

Facebook claims its AI can predict four days in advance if a coronavirus patient’s condition will deteriorate – just by looking at a single chest X-ray

  • Facebook and NYU built AI to predict developments among COVID patients
  • IT was trained with thousands of chest X-rays with and without COVID 
  • The software is based on a series of three machine-learning models
  • One predicts deterioration with one scan and another uses a sequences of scans
  • The third model is capable of predicting if supplemental oxygen will be needed 

Facebook claims to have designed software capable of predicting if a coronavirus patient’s health will deteriorate or will need oxygen just by scanning their chest X-rays.

Working with New York University (NYU), the social media firm says the system can calculate such developments four days.

Together they have built three machine-learning models to assist doctors better prepare as cases around the world continue to rise.

One model is designed to predict deterioration using a single chest X-ray, another does the same but through a series of X-rays and the third uses an X-ray to determine if and how much supplemental oxygen a patient may need.

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Facebook and NYU built three machine-learning models to assist doctors better prepare as cases around the world continue to rise. One model is designed to predict deterioration using a single chest X-ray, another does the same but through a series of X-rays

The coronavirus has kept a strong hold on the world for more than a year of it starting in Wuhan, China.

There are more than 93 million cases worldwide and some two million people have lost their life to the virus.

However, the US has had the brunt of it with more than 23 million cases and over 389,000 deaths.

As the cases continue to rise, scientists and tech companies are working on innovated ways to catch symptoms prior to them taking a deadly turn.

The third uses an X-ray to determine if and how much supplemental oxygen a patient may need. The AI can make predictions four days in advance based the X-rays

The third uses an X-ray to determine if and how much supplemental oxygen a patient may need. The AI can make predictions four days in advance based the X-rays

Facebook and NYU each have five researchers that worked on the coronavirus predicting software.

‘Our model using sequential chest X-rays can predict up to four days (96 hours) in advance if a patient may need more intensive care solutions, generally outperforming predictions by human experts,’ the authors said in a blog post published Friday.

The team first ‘pretrained’ the model with a public database of chest X-rays on MIMIC-CXR-JPG and CheXpert.

The system was then trained on NYU coronavirus chest X-rays that included a total of 26,383 images from 4,914 patients, which allowed the models to label a patient’s condition worsening with 24, 48, 72, or 96 hours of the scan in question.

‘Based on reader studies that we conducted with radiologists at NYU Langone, our models that used sequences of X-ray images outperformed human experts at predicting ICU needs and mortality predictions, and overall adverse event predictions in the longer term (up to 96 hours),’ the team shares in the blog.

‘Being able to predict whether a patient will need oxygen resources would also be a first, and could help hospitals as they decide how to allocate resources in the weeks and months to come.’

Facebook claims to have designed software capable of predicting if a coronavirus patient's health will deteriorate or will need oxygen just by scanning their chest X-rays

Facebook claims to have designed software capable of predicting if a coronavirus patient’s health will deteriorate or will need oxygen just by scanning their chest X-rays

William Moore, MD, a Professor of Radiology at NYU Langone Health, share in a statement: ‘We have been able to show that with the use of this AI algorithm, serial chest radiographs can predict the need for escalation of care in patients with COVID-19.’

‘As COVID-19 continues to be a major public health issue, the ability to predict a patient’s need for elevation of care — for example, ICU admission — will be essential for hospitals.’