Sask. AI x-ray project first of its kind in Canada
An artificial intelligence (AI) project is expanding healthcare for remote communities in Saskatchewan.
Synthesis Health has delivered portable x-ray machines to Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation. According to the company’s chief medical officer, Deepak Kaura, it’s the first in Canada.
“A lot of these communities have never had x-ray, you know, patients travelled eight or 10 hours for x-ray, and most don't travel,” he told CTV News.
Preventative health manager for the area, Genevieve St. Denis said it was exciting for the community.
“Now that we have these portable x-rays in our communities, with this artificial intelligence platform, we're able to provide instant diagnosis and interventions to our First Nations population and these isolated communities.”
Kaura said it all began in 2008.
“I started thinking about artificial intelligence and its impact that it could have on health care, particularly as a image-based specialist, right, I wanted to see how effective computer vision could be in analyzing the problems that I see on a daily basis, and built the first set of algorithms back then, and you know, it was pretty impressive.”
He started to pursue the idea more in Calgary and then moved overseas to Qatar.
“While I was there, I did a bunch more work in machine learning. And then moved back to Canada,” he said.
He started talks with the then-CEO of the Saskatchewan Health Authority Scott Livingston.
“He said, ‘Tuberculosis is on the rise, and we don't have enough subspecialists, we don't have enough digitization, and we don't have any extra units.’ So I said, ‘Well, what if we built you an artificial intelligence algorithm, that would allow us to do this work and allow you to do this work?’
“We validated it in Saskatchewan, with 28 doctors. And then we went and got Health Canada approval right in the middle of COVID,” Kaura said. “It was the first AI algorithm, and radiology ever approved by Health Canada.”
He said they reached out to Fuji to build the machines and found a way to put x-ray images up into a cloud so it can be accessed by technicians.
“AI algorithm does a lot this in like, a few seconds, and sends the analysis back to the nurse practitioner or to the doctor at the frontline of care,” Karua said.
“We're able to provide right on-site clinical diagnostic services to our First Nations members who live in isolated communities,” St. Denis said. “So right on reserve, in primary care clinics, we can provide that service rather than having to send the patient out and to drive sometimes six, eight hours to a place like a hospital to receive that x-ray. We can do that day.”
Kaura said they hope to expand the project to other communities, including Onion Lake.
“We think that the future is pretty remarkable because this is just the beginning of all the machine learning work that we're doing with Synthesis right now.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.