In major cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city, a long-established scenario unfolds in frontline hospitals: patients have to arrive between 4 to 5 am, to register and secure a spot for medical consultation and treatment. Ngo Minh Tri MD, PhD, from the Department of Diagnostic Imaging at Hue Central Hospital, notes that on peak days, the hospital sees a surge of nearly 5,000 to 6,000 patients seeking medical care and advice.
This influx traditionally led to significant strains on medical resources and an overwhelming workload for doctors and medical staff. However, the introduction of DrAid™, a state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform, into the hospital’s workflow has markedly alleviated these pressures. DrAid™ specializes in supporting diagnostic radiology, effectively serving as a second reader or assistant to physicians.
Dr. Tri highlights the impact of DrAid™ CT Liver Cancer D&T in enhancing the screening and detection process for liver cancer. The integration of this technology into subclinical procedures has significantly improved the accuracy of tumor detection and localization. “DrAid™ not only lightens the load on our resources and reduces operational costs,” Dr. Tri observes, “but also allows for more meaningful doctor-patient interactions and bolsters confidence in tackling challenging imaging cases.”
Outperformed capabilities of DrAid™
Developed by VinBrain, a subsidiary of Vingroup, DrAid™ is one of the Vietnam’s first comprehensive AI platform aiding medical professionals in various domains, including chest X-ray and abdominal CT screening, cancer diagnosis and treatment, and managing endemic diseases like tuberculosis and thalassemia.
DrAid™ significantly enhances the efficiency of diagnostic imaging by intelligently prioritizing the assessment of normal and abnormal cases. This advanced prioritization results in a substantial 30% reduction in image interpretation time for medical professionals. Presently, DrAid™ is instrumental in supporting radiologists across three key domains:
Comprehensive Screening: It excels in conducting X-rays for chest and abdominal screening, achieving an impressive accuracy rate of up to 95%.
Oncology Diagnosis and Treatment: In Vietnam, a region heavily impacted by hepatica diseases, with approximately 20 million individuals battling hepatitis B and C, and about 8 million afflicted with cirrhosis, hepatitis, or liver cancer, therefore, early detection of malignancies is crucial. Associate Professor Ho Huu Thien, PhD, of Hue Central Hospital, highlights the variability in radiologists’ expertise across Vietnam. This variability underscores the importance of reliable tools like DrAid™ in diagnosing conditions such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). DrAid™’s advanced imaging capabilities allow for the detection of liver cancer tumors as small as 5mm, facilitating early-stage intervention and curative treatment..
Screening for Pervasive Diseases: DrAid™ also extends its capabilities to the screening of significant diseases through diagnostic imaging, including tuberculosis, thalassemia and COVID-19.
Furthermore, the DrAid™ Enterprise Data Solution enhances hospital operations by providing advanced support in data management and medical record analysis, along with the automated generation of intelligent medical reports. This facilitates interoperability and optimizes both clinical and administrative workflows, thus aiding hospitals in their transition towards precision medicine, characterized by more personalized and accurate patient care.
As Mr. Steven Truong, Founder & CEO of VinBrain, asserts, the essence of digital transformation in healthcare is transforming raw data into actionable insights.
Beyond Hue Central Hospital, DrAid™ is gaining traction across Vietnam, currently utilized by nearly 2,000 doctors in over 100 hospitals, including the Central Military Hospital 108, Hospital 199, Hai Phong Lung Hospital, and the University Medical Center Ho Chi Minh City. The AI system has significantly reduced initial screening times by 80-85%, lowering the time for analyzing cases like liver cancer from 30 minutes per case to just 5 minutes, showcasing its remarkable efficiency in medical diagnostics.
Artificial Intelligence is transforming healthcare
DrAid™, powered by Microsoft’s Azure and Azure OpenAI Service, epitomizes the effective utilization of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare. Operating on an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) data system, DrAid™ harnesses Microsoft’s cutting-edge AI technologies, including Generative AI and ChatGPT-4. The DrAid™ Copilot, akin to “ChatGPT for Healthcare,” functions as an intelligent virtual assistant. It aids physicians in diagnostic processes, treatment planning, and the efficient management of burgeoning medical records.
Marking a significant achievement in quality and innovation, DrAid™ complies with the rigorous standards of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This distinction makes it the first and only AI-driven X-ray diagnostic tool in Southeast Asia to receive this prestigious certification. Consequently, Vietnam has been propelled into the Top 6 nations globally with FDA-approved AI products for chest X-ray diagnostics.
Ms. Nguyen Quynh Tram, Country General Manager at Microsoft Vietnam, said: “We’re delighted that VinBrain chose Azure AI for DrAid™, the innovative AI platform that transforms diagnostic imaging and medical administration. By putting doctors and patients at the heart of every innovation, we believe that AI can radically transform the healthcare industry. It helps medical professionals handle records better, diagnose with imaging tools, and spend more time with patients. This improves the quality and efficiency of medical services.”
Beyond DrAid™, VinBrain is also leveraging Azure, Azure OpenAI, and generative AI across its various medical applications. These include AIScaler™ for medical data labeling and SenMe™, an AI-assisted mental wellness tool, among others.