Healthtech start-up launches free Covid-19 remote triaging via CT scan in Antique

Lifetrack Medical Systems, a Singapore and Philippines-based healthtech start-up company, recently launched a program with the province of Antique focused on improving affordable access to medical imaging and address the challenges of Covid-19. Under the partnership, Lifetrack will freely provide its LifeSys platform to aid the public health authorities of Antique in identifying and prioritizing molecular testing for potential Covid-19 patients by using CT scans.

“Covid-19 has reached epidemic proportions and there is an urgency to rapidly diagnose cases. Our goal in making the repository available globally is to make it easier to facilitate global collaboration in identifying potential Covid-19 positive cases,” Dr. Eric Schulze, founder and CEO of Lifetrack, said in a press statement.

Schulze pointed out that health-care providers around the world have stressed the value of medical imaging exams to triage potential Covid-19 patients and prioritize the limited availability of RT-PCR tests.  Recognizing this, Lifetrack pioneered in launching a secured, anonymized and scalable global Covid-19 image repository last March to aid radiologists and researchers in the use of chest CT scans to identify potential Covid-19 cases faster and earlier. “Creating a repository of Covid-19 positive chest CT cases allows radiologists worldwide to educate themselves in identifying and recognizing Covid-19 patterns, crucial in accelerating diagnoses and treatment,” he explained.

Lifetrack also urged for collaboration with public health authorities to use its LifeSys platform and Covid repository during this period, which Antique’s forward-thinking provincial government responded to. “With the Covid-19 cases in the Philippines rising exponentially over time, additional measures should be taken to contain the spread of the disease,” according to Antique Governor Rhodora Cadiao. “While waiting for the procurement of molecular testing kits, we needed an alternative solution to identifying the potential Covid-19 cases in Antique. We partnered with Lifetrack Medical Systems to provide Antique with remote reading capabilities for chest CT scans, as well as the added assistance of artificial-intelligence (AI) technology to support the triage of potential Covid-19 patients. With this partnership, we can assure each of our kasimanwa [citizens] we are covering all fronts to battle Covid-19.”

Being based on another island and given the current travel ban in the Philippines, Lifetrack’s solution allows the radiologist to screen CT scans from Angel Salazar Memorial General Hospital of Antique.

Working with the hospital’s team, Carl Nicholas Ng, Lifetrack’s COO, said the company set up its LifeSys platform remotely within three weeks to provide the hospital’s consulting radiologist with off-site access. The radiologist may also choose to consult an AI-based decision support provided by Lifetrack’s partner, Predible Health of India, to detect chest CT patterns presumptive of Covid-19. ASMGH will follow strict disinfection protocols in its CT scan machine to prevent Covid-19 from spreading between patients.

“The Lifetrack team wants to thank the Antique provincial government and health officials for giving us the opportunity to contribute to their efforts to fight the spread of Covid-19,” Ng said.

“We want to offer our solution to more public and private health authorities, and AI and medical researchers who want to collaborate with us, radiologist may also choose to consult an AI-based decision support provided by Lifetrack’s partner, Predible Health of India, to detect chest CT patterns presumptive of Covid-19.”

Lifetrack was recently recognized as one of the Top 150 Digital Health Startups Redefining Healthcare by CB Insights, and works with health-care partners in Asia, North America, Europe, and Africa. Investors include the Asia Impact Investment Fund managed by the UOB Group and Credit Suisse, the corporate venture arm of Philips Healthcare, and Kickstart Ventures of the Philippines’s Ayala Group.

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