Funding by IHF and ACT For Health will aid Salcit Technologies in the technical validation of the Swaasa®’s AI algorithm. The project will include the collection of cough sounds from about 5700 subjects (TB and Non-TB), the technical validation of the platform across 6 public health centers and the enhancement of the platform to reach an accuracy of 90% for detecting the likely presence of TB.
Unlike other cough screening algorithms coming to the market, Swaasa® is a multi-focus platform that can be used for screening of various lung ailments including COVID-19, for which it is currently undergoing clinical trials. Swaasa® is also registered with CDSCO, is HIPAA and ISO27001 certified and has two granted patents and three publications backing its technology and use. Salcit’s proprietary combination of audiometric analysis and AI technology will undergo two more development phases post the review of the first phase by an external panel of technical experts representing Central TB Division, ICMR and WHO-India, among others.
The project is co-funded by IHF and the non-profit venture philanthropy platform ACT for Health.
“Although we have made great strides in identifying and treating TB patients with innovative policies and aggressive testing, we still miss millions of TB patients who are not caught by the public healthcare radar. This is primarily due to the lack of access to affordable and scalable screening tools at the periphery. We’re excited to see Swaasa®’s potential unfold and believe that our support to Salcit Technologies will help this platform supplement and strengthen existing Active Case Finding (ACF) in low resource settings,”
Neetha Joy, Director – ACT For Health.
“With the support and funding from India Health Fund and ACT For Health, we aim to stay true to our mission of serving the underserved by taking our AI-powered tool to the communities. Swaasa® holds the promise not only to screen TB non-invasively and instantaneously but also to enhance the capacity of healthcare workers and strengthen the health system, including the public and private networks,”
Venkat Yechuri, CEO – Salcit Technologies.
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