Supercomputer joins fight against coronavirus

An English version of a widely used CT scan analysis system powered by artificial intelligence was fired up last week by the National Supercomputer Center in Tianjin. It will aid in treating patients with pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus.

The center teamed up with Tianjin Medical University Cancer Hospital and other domestic hospitals and institutions to build an AI assistance system over the past few month for analyzing CT (computed tomography) images of the novel coronavirus pneumonia.

The Chinese version was released in February.

The launch of the English version aims to maximize the effectiveness of the platform and help international medical and scientific research teams in need.

The system has been tested and adopted by hundreds of experts from over 50 research and development institutions worldwide and from over 30 hospitals nationwide, based on the Tianhe Integrated Artificial Intelligence Innovation Platform developed using China's Tianhe supercomputer at the National Supercomputer Center in Tianjin's Binhai New Area.

The first-time accuracy of the system in confirming the presence of the coronavirus has been praised by front-line doctors.

Early this month, the research and development team carried out training for the AI system nationwide in a bid to further optimize and improve its accuracy and reliability. It is a powerful tool in evaluating CT images of suspected cases of the novel coronavirus pneumonia.

Other institutions involved in the project include the National Society of Artificial Intelligence in Oncology (part of the China Anti-Cancer Association) and the Professional Committee of Smart Medicine under the Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence.

Find more on the English version of the CT evaluation platform at https://ai.nscc-tj.cn/thai/deploy/public/pneumonia_ct.