Point-of-Care Ultrasound for COVID-19
Delivering real-time diagnosis of pneumonia caused by COVID-19.
Project Overview
Updated March 31, 2023
The Problem
Diagnosing COVID-19 in patients in rural and remote communities can be costly and time-consuming. As well, the molecular tests can fail to detect up to 30 per cent of cases.
The risks from delays or misdiagnosis can have severe consequences. Patients with false negative tests can unknowingly spread the infection, while delayed detection in long-term care home residents can lead to more outbreaks and deaths.
How We Are Solving It
The Intelligent Network for Point-of-Care Ultrasound for COVID-19 project aims to improve our ability to detect COVID-19 by developing an AI-powered platform that can be used with wireless, handheld ultrasound devices. Combined with machine learning and a cloud-based platform, this technological advance will deliver real-time diagnosis of patients with pneumonia, potentially caused by COVID-19.
Led by Providence Health Care in partnership with Clarius, Change Healthcare, Rural Coordination Centre of BC, the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health, the project’s goal is to make the networked, portable ultrasound technology available in rural and remote communities, and eventually long-term care homes for seniors.
By deploying this device during an outbreak, tests can be performed repetitively without adverse effects to the patients. It also reduces unnecessary exposure of healthcare workers and the need for potentially infected individuals to travel to a test site.
The Result
This project is an augmentation of the Intelligent Network Point-of-Care Ultrasound project and aims to use a handheld ultrasound device powered by artificial intelligence to provide real-time diagnosis of patients with pneumonia, potentially caused by COVID-19. The project developed novel artificial intelligence to perform on par with clinical experts for identification of lung pathology, including some of the ultrasound image features of COVID-19. Frontline workers, particularly in rural and remote areas, were supported through the development of virtual training, remote clinical support, and artificial intelligence tools to rapidly identify COVID-19 lung abnormalities and provide a clinical decision support tool.
Project Lead
Project Partners
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“Ultrasound has been a game-changer for rural care in general, allowing immediate diagnoses for triaging and expediting trauma cases to higher levels of care. The establishment of the COVID network means physicians have been able to share their images with any specialist and receive immediate feedback.”
Rural Coordination Centre of BC Read the Impact Story -
"The Digital Supercluster has helped Providence forge new pathways to work with industry partners in developing technology driven solutions for complex health issues, said Brian Simmers, CFO and VP of People & Health Informatics at Providence Health Care. "In this collaborative innovation model, the projects we have engaged in highlight the thought leadership and strategic value-add we bring to the consortium, which supports the development of intellectual property and co-developed solutions. Supercluster uniquely enables all partners to come together at the table and navigate challenging but important intellectual property ownership and commercialization arrangements."
CFO and VP of People & Health Informatics at Providence Health Care See Our Other Project