Covid-19: Tunisia researchers use AI, X-rays to create online virus scan tool

Tunisian police trucks spray disinfectant, as a measure against the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, outside a cathedral near Avenue Habib Bourguiba in the centre of the capital Tunis. Teachers and students at the Tunisian engineering and technology institute INSAT have been developing the platform — Covid-19 Exam Ct/XR images by AI — since mid-March. — AFP

TUNIS: Tunisian engineers have created a web-based platform that scans lung X-rays and evaluates whether patients are likely to be suffering from the novel coronavirus.

While it's not the first initiative of its kind in the world, its creators say it is the first to be openly available. And though not a diagnostic tool, the technology provides a "90%" reliable indication of the probability of infection, they add.